


Sonic & Tails: Frames of Animation

by FierySprites



Series: Worlds in Motion [1]
Category: RWBY, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Crossover, Gen, Humor, Mario & Luigi Mechanics, Much Rehashing, Multi-Crossover, No Fourth Wall, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, POV First Person, POV Multiple, Post-Sonic Forces, Pre-Volume 1 (RWBY), Self-Aware!Sonic, Self-Aware!Tails, Taiyang is so confused lol, Video Game Mechanics, very meta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-05-19 12:59:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 43,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14874195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FierySprites/pseuds/FierySprites
Summary: [CURRENTLY ON HIATUS]It's been eight months since Sonic and co. managed to take back the world from Dr. Eggman. The world has been rebuilt, but the mad doctor seems to have gone quiet, which is always a source of worry.Suddenly, Eggman returns with a frightening reveal -- the Phantom Ruby wasn't actually destroyed... and now he can use it to travel through entiredimensions.Accompanied by new technologies, he plans to literally steal the frames per second of other worlds (yes, really), use it to power his army, and take over the multiverse!With Eggman already having prep work done in several dimensions, it's clear what needs to be done. Sonic and Tails must gather a cast of new friends, venture across dimensions, and fight to once more put a stop to his evil plans! Get ready, Sonic, Tails... because this is gonna be a wild ride!(AMario & Luigi-esque multi-crossover fic with the usage of video game elements. Also, Sonic and Tails are very,verymeta.)





	1. Unbound by Chaos

**[Sonic]**

**South Island – Green Hill Zone**

Have you ever really felt free in your life?

As if, you feel you have the ability to make your own choices?

To pave your life the way  _you_  want to?

Well, that's the type of person I am.

I'm Sonic.  **Sonic the Hedgehog!**  You might have heard of me – the Blue Blur, the Fastest Thing Alive, Knight of the Wind, stuff like that?

You might be wondering what I'm doing right now. Well, it's been quite some time since my friends and I managed to take back Mobius from the clutches of Eggman's empire. Boy, that was one heck of a time. (And yeah, I'm well aware of the fact that you guys may have seen our past game as fairly… err… mediocre. Trust me, things went different here.)

But now that things have calmed down, and everyone's managed to rebuild, I've just been out and about. The bright blue skies, the fresh green grass… There's just something about  **Green Hill Zone**  that keeps me coming back. It may not be my real home, but it's pretty dang close.

I can't tell you how many times I've run through this zone in my spare time. Grabbing Rings, bashing the occasional Badnik, running through loop-de-loops… In fact, that's what I'm doing right now. I can feel the rushing wind between my quills as my feet ran straight down another hill.

"AW, YEAH!" I cried. "This is happening!"

Finally, I jumped off an uphill slope at full speed, landing atop another one of the many loops in the zone. I laid against a familiar life monitor, smiling as I gazed at the beautiful sight before me. It was pretty hard work removing all the sand from the zone – to this day, I still don't know how and why Eggman bothered putting so much sand in the first place.

"I never tire of this place," I said aloud. "Though I do wish Eggman would stop throwing Badniks on it."

Speaking of Eggman, it's been a while since he was last seen. I've run about the entire continent for a while, but he seems to have completely vanished. I know that after the whopping defeat I gave him together with my past self and Gadget (and jeez, that mech he threw at us  _totally_  didn't look familiar or anything) he'd need to go underground for a while to recuperate, but sheesh! It's been months since then. Where could he be?

_It doesn't matter now what happens,  
I will never give up the fight~!_

As if on cue, I heard my phone's ringtone go off. I pulled it out of my hammerspace and looked at the screen – it was from Tails! Huh, I wonder what he's calling for?

I answered the call. "Hey, Tails! What's going on?"

"Sonic!" I heard Tails reply. "Eggman's attacking  **Station Square**  again! He's got a load of Badniks, too! Hurry on back so we can take care of this!"

"Alright, Tails! I'm on my way!" Putting my phone back into my inventory, I leaped off the loop-de-loop and dashed as fast as I could away from South Island.

So now Eggman chooses to come back, huh? Pretty strange timing, but you know what? That's just fine with me. I've been itching to beat some Robuttnik anyway! Maybe afterwards I can even visit those Chao Gardens Cream likes so much. Be a nice change of pace, you know?

* * *

**Station Square**

I dash into Station Square to find Badniks everywhere! Motobugs and Buzz Bombers and Egg Pawns all over the place! I could see several civilians fleeing in fear, too. And here I thought Eggman had stopped with the whole nostalgia thing. Like sheesh, those are the only Badniks I see out of him anymore. And that's not even going to the constant reusing of his past mechs.

Well, whatever. I've got a city to save!

Curling into a ball, I smashed into a nearby Buzz Bomber, bouncing on several more like a pinball bouncing on bumpers. Landing on the floor, I quickly boosted through the Motobugs in range, hearing a stream of delightful popping sounds as I went.

When I looked back, there were plenty of rescued animals hopping away and a crowd of cheerful cries from my audience. Heh, I always know how to put on a show.

"Sonic, you made it!" Flying to me was my best buddy,  **Tails!**  He's a pretty nifty mechanic and the smartest guy I know (and no, Eggman doesn't count). The most notable thing about him, of course, was his two tails – which is actually how he got his nickname.

"Well, it's not like I wouldn't have made it," I replied. "You know there's no way I could miss this party for the world!"

Holding my fist up, the two of us performed a fist bump (heh heh). I asked him, "So, where's Eggman? I think we better bring this welcoming back party to him personally."

"I heard on the news he's hanging out in front of Casinopolis. It might take a while though, what with all these Badniks everywhere."

"Oh come on, Badnik destruction is our specialty! We'll take 'em down and have plenty of time to spare!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw several of the Egg Pawns gearing up to attack, shields and lances in hand.

"Speaking of which," I added, "I think now's a good time to start. How about it?"

"You said it, Sonic!" Tails and I got into battle stances, big dumb grins on our faces. The Egg Pawns started running toward us, running at their usual pathetic speeds as the two of us separated to attack.

One of three Egg Pawns tried slashing at me with their lance, but I easily backflipped out of the way and followed up by kicking its legs out from underneath it. As it fumbled about, I hopped on it and burst it to pieces.

I rushed at another Egg Pawn, but this one actually got a little smart, utilizing its shield to block me from attack. Its companion jumped and tried to slice me horizontally, but I hadn't been taken aback enough for me to just take a hit from that too. "Whoa, Badniks using an actual strategy?" I commented. "Never thought I'd see the day!"

Crouching down and  **Spin Dashing**  easily took care of the shield, and it went flying away. Quickly, I rushed to the shield and grabbed it, and – taking a page from Captain America – threw it in an arc toward the other two Egg Pawns. Before my eyes, the shield bounced between them, though the one still with a shield of its own simply hid behind it as its friend turned into scrap metal.

While it was cowering, I snuck up behind it and tapped it on the shoulder. It turned to my direction, but I just dashed to where it wasn't looking. I tapped again, and snickered as it once more  _jusssst_  missed me. It looked kinda pissed now, so I just dropped an  **Air Cracker**  and hollered "Over here!"

Enraged, the Badnik rushed to my position… and promptly blew up from the mine I just placed, having not paid any sort of attention to the floor. That was three down, and zero left to go. I looked at Tails, and he seemed to be doing alright, too, spinning his tails around as a weapon against the two Egg Pawns he was fighting. Two more explosions occurred, and he met up back with me. "Two Badniks down!" he proclaimed cheerfully. "How about you?"

"Piece of cake," I bragged. "I guess Eggman forgot to spend any time fortifying any defenses in the time he was away."

More electronic sounds could be heard in front of us, and we turned to see even more Badniks ahead, ready to avenge their fallen comrades. I personally don't see how they think greater numbers means a greater advantage, but who cares?

"Betcha a hundred Rings I can take down more Badniks than you," I teased Tails.

"You're on!"

* * *

**[Tails]**

**Station Square – Casinopolis Entrance**

Man, I still can't believe Eggman's decided to make his return only now. I mean, it's been over eight months since we took Mobius back, and it doesn't even look like he brought anything new to the table.

"OH HO HO HO HO HO!" I heard  **Eggman**  holler his signature Santa Claus laugh, and as Sonic and I grew closer, we saw his Egg Mobile hovering over a crowd of frightened civilians. Various Badniks stood before him, aiming their weapons at the crowd. "Tremble in fear, citizens of Station Square! Bow before your future ruler!"

"Ruler? Don't make me laugh!"

In a flash, Sonic dashed in front of the crowd, standing against Eggman and his not-really-mighty army. Pointing a finger at him, he shouted, "You had your one chance at ruling the world and you screwed it up. Who'd take you back after that?"

"Why, if it isn't Sonic!" Eggman sneered. "I should've expected that you'd show yourself here in my moment of triumph."

"Doesn't look like much of a triumph to me," I overheard Sonic retort as I dashed to his side. "Your army this time around was pretty weak. What, you run out of those giant Death Egg Robots?" I noted the arrangement of Badniks to be had – more Motobugs, Buzz Bombers, and Egg Pawns. Something tells me he finally ran out of ideas. (Then again, he kind of hit that point back in 2013.)

"Of course I did, you and your pesky friends were the ones who destroyed them all in the first place!" Eggman replied. "But that's not important. I've got something far more powerful than any of that!"

"Let me guess," Sonic began sarcastically, "is it Infinite again? The Deadly Six? The Time Eater?"

"Chaos maybe?" I chimed in. "Oh, maybe even the Egg Walker! Now  _that's_  a classic."

"Hmph! Do you honestly think I would easily recycle my past projects like that?"

" **Yes,"**  Sonic and I answered simultaneously. Our franchise was so mired in nostalgia it wouldn't surprise me anymore if he brought out the freaking  _Drill Car_  of all things. (Man, wasn't that a pathetic piece of technology?)

"Okay, okay, maybe I've gotten a  _little_  lazy over the years…" ( _A little?_  I found myself thinking.  _Try a lot!)_  "…but that doesn't matter. You'll see the new weapon up my sleeve soon enough!" Eggman pointed a finger at us, yelling "BADNIKS! ATTACK!"

The two of us saw the small Badnik armada rush right at us, and we immediately got to work tearing them down. A few Egg Pawns tried to surround me, but I simply smacked their lances out of their hands by swiping my tails at them. As they tried to rush me anyway ( _Not too intelligent, huh?_  I thought), I flew up and dropped some  **Dummy Ring Bombs**  at them, taking them out immediately.

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw a few Buzz Bombers approach of me, aiming their blasters at my position. "Come and get me!" I teased them – man, I'm taking more and more cues from Sonic every day! – dashing away as a bunch of blaster shots hit where I was just standing.

I hopped onto a Motobug, smirking as I felt the Badnik panic over the extra weight. It tried to speed away upon seeing the other Buzz Bombers target its position, but I knew it'd be too slow to dodge. Their shots fired, and I jumped off before I lost my Rings from them. I hopped onto another Motobug, and repeated the process with all the other Motobugs.

You know, now that I think about it, it's been a while since I last intellectually challenged myself. I've built a TV out of paperclips, translated an entire alien language (though not without difficulty), and even made a fake Chaos Emerald. Maybe I should take some inspiration from Dr. Light and make a robot assistant? I mean, I'm pretty sure I can make AI that won't try to betray me. Or lock me up.

Or maybe I should take my Miles Electric and make it into a 3DS! I've always been fascinated with how so much power was crammed into a small, closable system; it'd also be easier to carry too! But then the screens would be pretty small, and typing stuff on it would be pretty difficult. Still, it's a nice thought…

…oh! All the Motobugs are dead! Huh, I was so preoccupied thinking that I didn't notice. No wonder Sonic mentions 'conking out whenever I ramble a little long…'

Deciding to put an end to this, I summoned my red arm cannon into existence and fired an  **Energy Ball,**  dispatching the rest of the Buzz Bombers without a sweat. "That all you got, Eggman?" I called out to the doctor. "'Cause that was nothing!"

"That was just the warm-up!" Eggman claimed, somehow still grinning. That's strange, he'd normally be pissed and yelling  _'You're going to pay for this!'_ or something. What's he got up his sleeve?

"Warm-up? This?" Sonic said, looking laidback. "You sure you got the screws on your head bolted tight?"

"Behold, one of my latest inventions!" he continued, as if Sonic hadn't said anything. "The **Animated Life Thieving Gun!"**  From beneath his Egg Mobile, some sort of gun appeared attached to a mechanical arm. Without warning, it charged up and fired some sort of beam into the crowd.

"H-Huh!?" I cried, Sonic and I spinning about to look at whoever was hit. The crowd had dispersed a bit, leaving a brown cat easily visible. He was convulsing in pain, the green beam drawing away some sort of energy from him.

"Hey, knock it off!" Sonic exclaimed, rushing up and jumping at Eggman's mech. Unfortunately, he just bounced off some sort of blue barrier, which covered the entirety of the Egg Mobile. It… looked a lot like how our shield power-ups used to.

"HA!" Eggman crowed. "Did you honestly think I'd leave myself vulnerable like that? Just sit back and enjoy the show before you."

The poor sap kept convulsing for a while, a few whimpers coming unbidden from his throat. I got out my  **Miles Electric,**  urgently trying to analyze the civilian and figure out what it was that Eggman was doing to him. He likes to proclaim that  _'all his machines are made for destruction,'_  so whatever that gun was doing couldn't have been good.

"W-What the-!?" I jolted with surprise. This guy's life readings… they were still as active as normal, but somehow they were  _slowing down!_

"Tails! What's going on!?" Sonic called out to me.

"Eggman's doing something to his life readings!" I replied, tapping a few more functions on my tablet. "I'm trying to figure out why, but I just don't have enough information!"

Finally, the beam retreated back to Eggman's gun contraption, and the civilian went limp for a bit. He doesn't look dead – that's not Eggman's MO – but it could be so much worse.

The civilian seemed to be looking himself over, but I immediately noticed something was wrong. His head was lagging in movement, looking like it had several frames of animation cut out of it. In fact, it seemed to be applying to the rest of his body. Whenever his arms and legs moved, they were practically jolting to position, looking  _reallllllly_  unnatural in so many ways.

The crowd gasped in horror as the poor cat shrieked. "N-No way!" I shouted. D-Don't tell me…!

"That's right," Eggman stated smugly. "With this invention… I can  _remove other people's frames of animation and take it for my own!_  They'll be jerking in movement! They'll be too slow to get out of the way!"

"T-That's not possible!" Sonic exclaimed, his eyes as wide as mine's and the audience. "We've always been self-aware, but nothing like that!"

"Ah yes, you're wondering about that. Well you see, all that stuff with the  **Phantom Ruby**  caused a lot of havoc to the spectrum of reality. And our universe has always been rather connected to the way our games play. So by abusing that little rip in reality…"

"…you can modify the way our world works in relation to the way games work!" I finished. This was just unreal, and yet… it made so much sense. "Frames per seconds, glitches, physic snafus, plotholes, gameplay powers… All of that can be affected!"

"This is a new low, even for you, Eggman!" Sonic said beside me.

"Well, of course! True genius relies on no limits," Eggman proudly proclaimed. "And the best part? It can work on  _anyone._  Knuckles, Shadow, even Big the Cat!  _Nobody_  is safe from my ART Gun! And not… even…  _you two!"_

My eyes widened as I realized  _exactly_  what Eggman wanted to do next. But it was too late. Eggman's gun charged up and fired again at us, a green ray of doom headed right for us.

"Brace yourself!" Sonic said, crossing his arms in a guarding position. I followed him, and closed my eyes in preparation.

The beam hit us, and…

…nothing happened?

Instead, a jolt of energy surged through our bodies, cracking all around us yet not causing any pain at all. Electronic, computer-like sounds echoed throughout, almost as if it were loading a program.

"Wait, what's happening?" Sonic asked, looking at all the glitch-like squares materializing all about us – not unlike Infinite's virtual reality projections now that I think about it. He ran in place for a bit – and he clearly hadn't been slowed down or lost any frames or anything. Heck, I felt the same way!

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Eggman roared in frustration. "That was supposed to cripple you two! And what's with the Phantom Ruby squares around you?"

Suddenly, some sort of game screen opened up in front of my eyes, completely independent of any screen or tablet. It just sat there like a heads-up display. I could feel my face still radiating shock as I read the contents of the screen.

* * *

**Miles "Tails" Prower**  
**Level 1 (E-Rank)**  
_The Two-Tailed Technician_

 **HP:** 30/30  
**SP:** 16/16  
**POW:**  20  
**DEF:** 20  
**SPEED:**  35  
**COOL:** 14

 **EXP:** 0  
**To Next Level:**  15

**[Gear] [Rank-Up Bonuses] [Combat Abilities] [Passive Abilities]**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

Was this… an RPG  _status screen?_ The heck?

"Hey, what's that screen you're reading!?" I heard Eggman yelling at us. I wasn't quite paying attention to him, blankly touching the button that read  **[Passive Abilities]**.

* * *

**Passive Abilities**

**[Scan] Lv. MAX  
** Your IQ is one that can rival the great Dr. Eggman's. With your intellect and your trusty Miles Electric, you can scan the stats of enemies and even get a basic description of them!

 **[Technician] Lv. 1  
** You're pretty smart when it comes to technology. Heck, you can practically improvise Ring monitors all on your own! This ability will allow you to manufacture new and helpful devices out of various materials you can find.

 **[Flight] Lv. 1  
** With your abnormal two tails, you can defy all the laws of physics and fly on your own power. You can even carry two other people as you go! Unfortunately, there are limits – there's only so long you can fly, after all.

* * *

Beside me, Sonic was gaping at his own screen. "Holy crap, we've really gone meta now," he muttered. He had a point – it was like we were in one of those endless 'Gamer' fanfics that populate the Internet!

…wait, we're in one, aren't we?

"NNNGH! Okay,  _fine!_  Maybe the ART Gun  _doesn't_  work on you. But I know what will!" Eggman tapped a few buttons on his control panel, and down from the sky descended another one of Eggman's robots.

This one, however, was different from the rest he'd thrown at us. We've seen it before, over twenty-four years ago, when he used it to bomb Angel Island. It was a circular machine, with three bomb launchers atop of it and a potent flamethrower attached to its front. I recalled the name I heard Eggman calling it once - the  **Fire Breath.**  (And yes, I know how dumb of a name that is.)

"The ART Gun doesn't just steal frames per second… it can  _give_  them to others! Watch!" Once more, Eggman fired the ART Gun, except this time it didn't look like it was taking out. It seemed to be transferring energy to the machine, just like Eggman said.

"My reborn  **Fire Breath**  can take you down with these extra frames of animation! You may have avoided losing any frames yourself, but you won't get any advantage out of that!"

Faster than I've ever seen it, the Fire Breath started rushing toward us – a much different action than it would perform twenty-four years ago. As it reached my position, I dashed out of the way, closing the weird status screen while I was at it. "Whoa! He wasn't kidding!" I shouted, throwing another one of my Dummy Ring Monitors at it.

I looked up at the mid-boss and immediately noticed something odd. There was some sort of… tag above the Fire Breath. I narrowed my eyes at it.

 **[BOSS] Fire Breath Lv. 2  
HP: ** 47/50,  **FP:** 20/20

 _It looks just like our status screens from earlier,_  I realized. Did… Did Eggman's gun reshape our visual perspectives into a JRPG?

 _That's_  a malfunction I've never seen before!

…and now I'm hoping the RPG we're imitating won't be  _Sonic Chronicles_  again. Boy, the music we had to go through…

Sonic, having dodged out of the way like me, immediately struck the Fire Breath with his signature  **Spin Attack,**  and I watched as the HP value on the Fire Breath lowered.

 **[BOSS] Fire Breath (Lv. 2)  
HP: ** 44/50,  **FP:** 20/20

…okay, maybe Eggman's malfunction didn't just reshape our  _visual_  senses. It must've reshaped our physical ones, too!

In response to Sonic's attack, the Fire Breath spat out some flames, but it went  _way_  faster than usual! Sonic couldn't react fast enough (hey, he may be the Fastest Thing Alive, but he's not perfect!), and he was burned!

"YOWCH!" he yelped, falling to the floor. As he did, I noticed another strange tag above his head.

 **Sonic the Hedgehog (Lv. 1)**  
_The Fastest Thing Alive  
_**HP:**  19/24,  **SP:**  12/12

I'm pretty sure that if I could look directly above my head, there'd be a similar tag up there too. This was getting crazier and crazier by the second!

"How the heck is it so  _fast!?"_  Sonic exclaimed, dodging a barrage of bombs being dropped in at practically light speed. "This is worse than Infinite's shenangians!"

I found myself Spin Dashing out of the way of several other bombs as he spoke. "Didn't you hear me?" Eggman taunted us from high up. "It's supercharged from the frames of animation I stole! It's like overclocking a computer to run at 90 FPS!"

Once more, the Fire Breath sped at us, slamming into my body with precision. I grunted, having taken worse before, but I noticed in the upper-left corner of my vision a new tag appearing.

 **Miles "Tails" Prower**  
_The Two-Tailed Technician  
_**HP:**  27/30,  **SP:**  16/16

Huh, so there's my tag. Alrighty then, I just gotta keep a close eye on it.

I whipped my tails onto the Fire Breath, taking off more of its HP and getting it to back off a bit. I rolled away from it, expecting it to shoot another stream of fire – and so it did. I summoned my blaster and shot it at it a few more times, but it barely seemed to affect it at all.

More bombs dropped, and I decided to get some distance away from the crazy machine. Evidently, Sonic had the same idea, grouping to where I went. "Jeez, this is way crazier than anything we've ever dealt before!" Sonic said. "Becoming an RPG protagonist, Eggman stealing FPS, and now this. How the heck do we deal with this?"

"I don't think our usual strategy will work," I said, referring to our typical 'rush in and dodge' approach to fighting bosses. "This thing's faster than we can expect right now, and we're not dropping any Rings upon taking hits."

"You noticed too, huh?" Sonic grimaced. "With the way this thing attacks, our HP will be taking quite the hits, and we won't have any Rings to fall back on."

"OH HO HO HO HO! Now do you see?" Eggman said. "You can try all you might, but you'll never be able to best this mid-boss!"

* * *

**[Sonic]**

Admittedly, Eggman did have a bit of a point. This Fire Breath thing is practically cheating. It knocked off five of my hit points with just its fire attack! For a 'first boss,' that's not good. I kind of miss the days of cakewalk first bosses. You know, like Chaos 0. Man, he was easy.

I glared at the Fire Breath, clenching my hands into fists. " _Greaaaaaaat,_ " I drawled. "If you're going to throw an overpowered boss on us, at least give us some sort of tutorial or something!"

And on cue, another screen popped up in front of my and Tails' faces.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Frame Draining**

Congratulations on starting  _Sonic & Tails: Frames of Animation™!_ This role-playing game has been meticulously crafted to give you one of the best  _Sonic™_  experiences around.

We apologize in advance if you are only now receiving tutorial notices in the middle of the first boss fight. Due to development issues, we were not able to fully play test the entirety of the game and thus the notices are bugged to appear a little later than usual.

Since you have opted to play on the  **'Experienced'**  difficulty, we are assuming that you have a basic idea of the combat and passive systems work, so we will skip to all the new, exclusive content that you won't find in most other RPGs.

You may have noticed the  **FP**  stat listed on the enemy tag. These are  **'Frame Points,'**  and they are a very important factor to playing this game. This tutorial will teach you how to effectively utilize enemy FP in combat.

Initiate the tutorial?

**[YES] / [NO]**

* * *

Well, that was a little on the nose. 'Development issues.' Pfft, I bet it was probably SEGA rushing their game again, or something. It happens all the time. 2006 was a pretty buggy year in that regard.

I wouldn't normally accept tutorials, because they're usually too slow for my liking. But I'll admit that this may be pretty important to listen to, so I went and clicked the  **[YES]**  option that appeared.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Frame Draining (1/2)**

To start with, Frame Points are the representation of the amount of extra frames per second an enemy has. FP can power up a foe and make them faster, even stronger. The more FP a foe has, the stronger it is compared to normal.

Luckily, there is a way to get rid of enemy FP –  **Frame Draining**. This attack will drain a sufficient amount of FP from enemies so long as it is performed successfully.

To start a  **Frame Drain**  attack, go up to the enemy and smash your palm against it, willing a  **Command Prompt**  to start up. Try it out!

* * *

Tails and I stared at the tutorial notice. "That's quite the new gimmick," Tails noted.

"Doesn't sound half bad," I said. "Alright, let's give it a shot!" I put my hands on the floor and pushed off, dashing straight toward the Fire Breath with my palm outstretched.

As I slammed against the Fire Breath, I noticed a green screen of text appear between my hand and the 'bot, glitching out at the edges. A sensation went through my mind, and I instinctively started pulling my palm away from the boss.

Energy began to surge from the enemy to my body, and I noted with interest the Fire Breath's FP going down.

 **[BOSS] Fire Breath (Lv. 2)  
HP: ** 42/50,  **FP:** 10/20

Eventually, it drained all the way to zero, and I jumped back again on instinct, feeling a little bit stronger than usual. I noted the words  **'EXCELLENT!'**  appear in the corner of my vision. At the very least, this game knows how to compliment its players.

"Hey Sonic, look!" Tails interrupted me. "The boss has slowed down!" Sure enough, the Fire Breath was moving again, but this time at normal speed. Whatever that  **'Frame Drain'**  thing did, it zapped the mid-boss's overpoweredness away. I could get used to that!

"WHAT!?" Eggman screeched. "Where are you pulling all these new abilities from!?"

The tutorial notice changed again.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Frame Draining (2/2)**

If things go as planned, the enemy's FP will be drained to zero and the word  **'EXCELLENT!'**  will have appeared. This is your indication that the attack has been successful.

Draining FP will restore your  **SP (Skill Points)**  at a slow rate and temporarily power up your next attack. SP can be used to perform Special Attacks, but we can get to those at a later date.

The  **'EXCELLENT!'**  prompt is indicative of your  **Action Commands.**  Action Commands are actions executed by your instincts, and come in four flavors:  **OK, GOOD, GREAT,** and  **EXCELLENT.** They can also have a wide variety of effects on the game. For example, your timing for Frame Drain's Action Command will determine how strong your attack will be.

And that does it for this tutorial. Frame Draining is an essential method for weakening and taking down enemies, so remember to use it whenever you see an enemy with FP. With that, we hope you enjoy your experience with  _Frames of Animation!_

**[OK]**

* * *

I clicked on the  **[OK]**  button, ending the tutorial. Man, that was a little too wordy for my tastes. But that doesn't matter now, because we've got the upper hand against the Fire Breath! (…that is still a terrible name.)

"Now we're talking!" I said aloud. "Come on Tails – let's show this thing who's boss!" With a grin back on my face, I spun into the Fire Breath – and just like the tutorial said, my attack was a little stronger.

The Fire Breath tried to toss some more bombs at us, but since they were so much slower than last time Tails and I managed to easily dodge them. Tails tossed a few Dummy Ring Monitors as I threw a punch at the Fire Breath. We continued like this for a while, slowly draining the boss's health as it ineffectually tried to fight back. Without all that FP, this mid-boss is actually pretty weak.

Finally, its HP had reached 6 out of 50, and I believed now was a good time to end this.

"Hey, Tails! How 'bout we finish this together?" I called to him.

He knew what I was talking about. "Alright, Sonic!" Taking my hand, the two of us rolled up into one big ball and initiated a  **Spin Combo**  (you know, that thing from  _Sonic 4)_  and slammed into the Fire Breath, taking down the last of its HP and finally bringing it down.

As usual, a litany of explosions lit up the 'bot's exterior, and it stumbled about erratically as it became clear it could no longer function. At last, a bigger explosion engulfed the whole boss, the pieces of scrap metal it left behind falling onto the ground.

"Phew!" I wiped my forehead in relief. "We made it!"

A new window popped up in front of our faces.

**VICTORY!**

**EXP Earned:**  15  _ **(LEVEL UP!)**_  
**Rings Earned:**  100

 **Items:**  N/A

**[CONTINUE]**

"We sure did," Tails replied, tapping the  **[CONTINUE]**  button for me. The screen changed again, telling us that we'd leveled up, with some rather poppy fanfare playing in the background. (Actually, it doesn't sound like something too far out of place in one of Mario's games.)

* * *

**Sonic the Hedgehog**  
**Level 2 (E-Rank)**  
_The Fastest Thing Alive_

 **HP:** 24/24 (+2)  
**SP:** 12/12 (+1)  
**POW:**  16 (+2)  
**DEF:** 16 (+1)  
**SPEED:**  60 (+2)  
**COOL:** 30 (+2)

 **EXP:** 15  
**To Next Level:**  30

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]**  
**Leveling Up**

When you get enough  **EXP (Experience Points)**  from defeating enemies, you can level up and become stronger. Leveling up with give a boost to all your stats, which all do a variety of things.

 **HP (Hit Points)**  represent the amount of relative hits you can take before you fall.  
**SP (Skill Points)**  represent the amount of energy you have to perform Special Attacks.  
**POW (Power)**  represents how much damage you can perform upon doing attacks.  
**DEF (Defense)**  represents how much damage you can block from taking hits.  
**SPD (Speed)**  represents your relative speed. Higher values mean you can dodge enemy attacks more efficiently.  
**COOL (Cool Points)**  represent your luck value. The higher it is, the more chance you have of perform  **Critical Hits.**  It may also have other effects down the line.

When you level up, you can also choose a stat to give a bonus upgrade to. Just tap one of your stats and stop the roulette!

* * *

…and  _this_  system is totally ripped off from Mario's games, too. Well, we copied power-ups and  _Super Mario Galaxy_ , so I supposed this isn't  _too_  surprising.

I decided to give a bonus upgrade to my  **DEF**  stat. A roulette appeared next to it, just like the tutorial said, a series of numbers between two to four rolling. Actually, it was rolling at a fairly slow speed, so it didn't take me too much effort to roll a four.

Looking at Tails, I saw he seemed to be giving an increase to his  **COOL**  stat (Man, that sounds like a pretty cool stat). He evidently seemed to notice the slow roll too, easily getting a four just like me.

* * *

**Miles "Tails" Prower**  
**Level 2 (E-Rank)**  
_The Two-Tailed Technician_

 **HP:** 27/32  
**SP:** 16/17  
**POW:**  21  
**DEF:** 22  
**SPEED:**  37  
**COOL:** 15  **(+4)**

 **EXP:** 15  
**To Next Level:**  30

* * *

After our stats increased, the two screens dropped from our vision. I turned back to Eggman. "Hah! That all you got?" I taunted. "Maybe you should play with us again when you've got an actual army!"

"You may celebrate your victory now, but know that this is only the beginning!" And just like that, Eggface was back to being smug and confident again.

"I dunno," I said, "your grand comeback consisted of nothing more than a bunch of useless Badniks. And sure, you've got that gun thing, but that alone won't conquer a world."

"Of course I know it won't conquer a single world! That's why I have dozens more ART Guns and Badniks doing the conquering work off world."

Wait… what?

"O-Off world?" I could see the gears metaphorically turning in Tails' head. "T-Then, that would mean…!"

"That's right.  _I'm taking the Eggman Empire to the multiverse!"_

My jaw dropped. Eggman figured out how to travel through dimensions!?

"Oh come on, don't look at me like that!" Eggman scoffed. "You know dimensional travel is easily possible. You do it all the time with your Smash tournaments, and don't tell me you've forgotten about the situation eight months ago. This is merely just the first step in my grand scheme!"

"So  _that's_  what you were doing for the past eight months!" Tails gasped in realization. "You were setting up bases on other dimensions, gathering your forces and leaving us in the dark! But even with the rip in reality, it'll take a strong catalyst in order to make dimensional travel truly accessible like that!"

"Hmph. You think I didn't account for that? I'm surprised how little you think of me!" Eggman reached into his coat, pulling out a very familiar stone.

Again, both our eyes widened.  **"The Phantom Ruby!"**  we exclaimed together.

"Oh come on, that's not fair!" I shouted. "We destroyed that thing eight months ago!"

"Yes, yes, you believed you did with that Triple Boost of yours," Eggman hand waved. "What you didn't know is that you merely depowered it. But even so, it has enough juice left in it for me to initiate my newest plan to conquer everything."

This was getting worse and worse by the second! "You won't get away with this, Eggman!" I said.

"That's what you think. Just try and stop me when I'm literally light years away from you!" The Phantom Ruby in his hands began to glow, and a crimson vortex appeared above Eggman's head.

"So long, Sonic, my eternal nemesis! Don't worry – I'll be back for Mobius some other time! OH HO HO HO HO HO HO!"

Eggman ascended into the portal, and there was nothing Tails or I could do to stop him. And attacking him at this moment definitely wasn't wise (I've learned from the Lost Hex), so the two of us just glared at his Egg Mobile as it went in and vanished.

As the portal dissipated, I looked back at the poor civilian that was now missing half his animation frames. Already, my mind was conjuring up images of Eggman inflicting that fate on dozens upon dozens of civilians, across several different dimensions. With their abilities to even  _move_  crippled, they wouldn't be able to stop any of Eggman's forces, since they'd have no idea how to adapt. And that would leave their planets ripe for the taking.

As I heard the sound of an ambulance approach, one thing crossed my mind.

 _We can't let Eggman just walk out and do as he pleases._  My duty as Eggman's 'eternal nemesis,' as he put it, wouldn't allow me to just sit back and wait for him to come back. We need to get out there and stop his sinister plan! But in order to get a leg up on that, Tails and I needed to regroup.

"What are we going to do, Sonic?" Tails asked me.

"Let's head to your place," I replied. "We might be able to figure something out from there."

"Alright. Let's get to it!"

* * *

**Mystic Ruins – Tails' Workshop**

When we got to Tails' workshop, we found Knuckles and Amy waiting for us.  **Knuckles**  is the sole resident of  **Angel Island**  (which can fly) and guardian of the  **Master Emerald**. We used to be rivals, but now we're pretty vitriolic buddies. You  _really_  don't want to be on the receiving ends of his punches.

 **Amy's**  the resident… love interest of mine. (Ugh!) She has quite the crush on me, but she's gotten that problem pretty subdued over the past few years. She's pretty formidable, too – she can whip out  **Piko Piko Hammers**  from practically anywhere.

"Hey, Sonic!" Knuckles said. "Long time no see!"

"Knuckles! Amy!" Tails said. "It's good to see you again."

"Same here. So, I heard you two were caught up in another Eggman attack? I swear he never knows when to give up."

"Yeah, we were," I told him. "And this time, he's actually got a pretty good plan up his sleeves."

"Really?" Amy asked, her eyebrows raised. "That doesn't sound good. What's he doing now?"

The two of us relayed to Knuckles and Amy the events of the last couple of hours and what Eggman told us about his plan. There was a lot to go over, and the two of them were pretty shocked at all the news.

"Stealing other people's frames per second?" Knuckles asked incredulously. "That's… That sounds insane!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," I stated. "It was like something straight out of a fanfic."

"We seem to be taking a lot of inspiration  _from_  fanfics, now that I think about it," Amy added, putting a finger under her chin. "I mean, just look at what happened last year. An OC, a cringe-inducing edgelord, do-everything plot devices…"

I shuddered. "Don't remind me. Listening to Infinite speak just physically hurt to listen to."

"Speaking of fanfic tropes," Tails interjected, "look what Eggman's goof gave us!"

A blue status screen that I was increasingly getting used to popped up, making Knuckles and Amy's eyes widen again.

"W-Whoa!" Knuckles flinched. "W-What is  _that!?_ "

"It's a status screen, just like an RPG!" Tails chimed in.

"A-An RPG?" Amy stared at the screen in amazement. "We're doing the whole  _Sonic Chronicles_  thing again?"

"I think it's just us two, really," I explained, pulling up my own status screen. "It's a by-product of whatever Eggman zapped us with. I'm not complaining – it's pretty cool, if I do say so myself."

A look of longing briefly appeared on Knuckles' face. "Hey, I want that too!" His face promptly began to scrunch up, as if he were trying really hard to use the restroom or something. I felt… confused.

"Knuckles? What are you doing?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm trying to do what you just did! Make a screen thing pop up!"

Tails' eyelids became half-closed. In a deadpan tone, he snarked, "Knuckles, that's not how it works. You'd have better luck trying to challenge Big to an intelligence duel."

"Alright, then! Then tell me where Eggman is! Maybe if  _I_  get zapped by his gun, I can get your cool RPG powers too!"

"Okay, first off," I interrupted him, "Eggman's actually off planet, so even if you wanted to, you're not gonna be able to catch him. Second, there's a 50-50 chance that instead of giving you these 'cool powers,' you'd just get  _your_  frames of animation stolen. And something tells me you won't be able to punch well without them."

Finally, Knuckles saw reason. "Great," he muttered. "I guess that means I'm sitting out this adventure."

Amy tried to cheer him up. "Come on, Knuckles! I know Eggman's new invention means it's too risky to go out and look for Eggman ourselves, but we can still help from the sidelines! We still have all of our communications technology from eight months ago, it's just a matter of tuning them to be able to work across dimensions."

"We do enough of that already," he groaned. "Remember the Lost Hex? We got our literal  _lives_  sucked out of us. I don't wanna go through  _that_  again."

"Don't worry! This is Sonic we're talking about. He'll get to Eggman before he does anything like that!"

"You know it!" I added. "We'll take care of Eggman before he conquers even a single dimension!"

Suddenly, I heard a bit of rummaging beside me. I turned to look in the direction of the sound, and I saw Tails going through one of his drawers. Amy asked, "Tails? What are you looking for?"

"It's something I was working on in my spare time," he responded. "I think I still have it in here… Gotcha!" He pulled out his hand to reveal… another Phantom Ruby!

It didn't take us long to realize what it was.  **"A** _ **Phantom Ruby Replica!**_ **"**  we stated together. Tails and Gadget had told me about them during the whole  _'Eggman's taken over!'_ incident. After having discovered the Phantom Ruby, Eggman had gone to work making several replicas, much like how Tails once made a fake Chaos Emerald. They hadn't lived up to his expectations, so he disposed of them, but Gadget managed to use them to stop Eggman's last-ditch-effort sun attack.

"Yep!" Tails said cheerfully. "Gadget showed me his Replica while we were still taking back the planet, so I managed to figure out how to recreate them. I even improved on what Eggman didn't do, so they don't break after so many uses. If we use this in combination with the upgrades I recently made with my Miles Electric…"

Pulling out said tablet, Tails plugged the Phantom Ruby Replica (I should just start calling them 'Ruby Replicas') onto one of its antennae. He then pulled out another Replica and stuck on the other antenna.

To our amazement, both Replicas began to vibrantly glow. Tails aimed the tablet beside us, and all of us watched as a blue portal opened up, not unlike the one Eggman went through.

Knuckles' jaw was practically unhinged. Amy simply let out a "Whoa!" while I whistled with appreciation.

"That's great!" I grinned. "Now we can start chasing down Eggman!"

"I've calculated the coordinates of this portal to send us to the closest dimension with activities from Eggman. I've also tuned it with our own RPG senses, so the difficulty level shouldn't be too high yet. It'll be the perfect start to our newest adventure."

"What are we waiting for then?" I said. "We've got an Eggman to scramble!"

"We'll get the rest of our friends and get the Resistance Base back up and running," Amy told us. "If I'm right, something tells me this is going to be bigger than we're expecting, so we need to be prepared."

"Heh, sounds good to me," Knuckles proclaimed. "I can't wait to be Commander again!"

"Knuckles, we're not going to be doing any resisting for now; we're just setting things up for Sonic and Tails."

"…I can still be Commander when we finish doing that, right?"

Amy sighed. "Yes, Knuckles," she conceded, "you can be Commander afterward."

"AW YEAH!" Knuckles pumped a fist in the air. Same old Knuckles. Then again, if I were Commander once, I think I'd like to be Commander again the next chance I'd get.

"Good luck with that, guys!" I said, gearing up. "We'll be back to check up before you know it!"

"Make sure to bring back some souvenirs, too!" Amy suggested. "I've always wanted to see what other dimensions are like."

"Don't worry! If all goes well," Tails said, "we'll practically be drowning in them."

"Okay, let's move!"

With that, Tails and I ran through the swirling portal, ready to begin our next grand adventure. Eggman may have a new threat up his sleeves, but we've got new powers too.

And who knows? We might even make some new friends along the way, see some new sights. The planetary trek I had ten years ago was pretty dang fun, so I'm sure this dimensional romp will be much of the same.

Either way, this is going to be a journey neither of us will ever forget.

And I can't wait!

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

"Not Quite the Day We've Waited For"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a story I've had in my imagination for the longest time now. ([Specifically, since October 2017 or so.](https://fieryexplosion.deviantart.com/art/Fiery-s-Fanfic-Ideas-Set-5-708176629) Man, time flies!) I wanted to have a fanfic that was pretty damn meta, so I came up with this ridiculous plot of Eggman stealing people's frames per second. Hey, the Sonic twitter is already pretty self-aware, so why not extend it to the rest of the Sonic universe?
> 
> If my current motivation persists (which it probably won't, but we can be a little optimistic, can't we), then I hope to have this fic span a good long while. This is going to be fairly experimental as I really get into writing! Some notes on this chapter:
> 
> This is going to be a first-person fic, because I think some fics can get really interesting when you're put into the mind of a specific character, hear their thoughts and perspectives, and listen to their beautiful first-person snark. Expect to be reading the perspectives of all of our future party members, too! (And no, I won't tell you who they are now. That'd spoil the fic!)
> 
> Sonic's **Air Cracker** and Tails' **Energy Ball** attacks both come from _Sonic Battle_ , where they're Sonic's mid-air trap attack and ground attack, respectively. I felt like it'd be fun to use them, so that Sonic and Tails can have a more diversified moveset.
> 
> Yes, _Sonic 3's_ first mid-boss is literally named **Fire Breath,** according to Sonic Retro. I am not making this up.
> 
> And I'm bringing back the Phantom Ruby because damn was it totally underutilized and poorly used in _Sonic Forces_ – just like everything else in the game. Besides, we never did see the end of the Phantom Ruby now, did you?
> 
> Also, I refuse to believe all those Phantom Rubies in _Forces_ were 'prototypes.' That specifically contradicts all the previous lore we know about the Phantom Ruby, so it makes a lot more sense for them to be Eggman trying to replicate them to use for his army, but not meeting his expectations. See? I can write plot better than Sonic Team can!
> 
> And yes, this is going to technically be one of the many 'Gamer' fics in existence. Now before you decide to leave, this isn't going to be a traditional one –the systems will be based off the _Mario & Luigi_ series. I really like playing the _Mario & Luigi_ series, and I've beaten four out of the five games, so I thought it'd be fun to try writing a Gamer fic using that. There's only so many Gamer fics you can read before you just start getting tired of them and want innovation, you know?
> 
> This author's note is running rather long, so I think I'll stop here. Next time on **_Sonic & Tails: Frames of Animation,_** we visit our first world and take a look at our first new party member! If you know your songs, you can probably tell where our first destination is…


	2. Not Quite the Day We've Waited For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and Tails enter their first new world! Of course, they barely know anything _about_ said world, but luckily, there's a portly little house outside of the forest they landed in...

_**Last time…** _

_"What are we waiting for then?" I said. "We've got an Eggman to scramble!"_

_"We'll get the rest of our friends and get the Resistance Base back up and running," Amy told us. "If I'm right, something tells me this is going to be bigger than we're expecting, so we need to be prepared."_

_"Heh, sounds good to me," Knuckles proclaimed. "I can't wait to be Commander again!"_

_"Knuckles, we're not going to be doing any resisting for now; we're just setting things up for Sonic and Tails."_

_"…I can still be Commander when we finish doing that, right?"_

_Amy sighed. "Yes, Knuckles," she conceded, "you can be Commander afterward."_

_"AW YEAH!" Knuckles pumped a fist in the air. Same old Knuckles. Then again, if I were Commander once, I think I'd like to be Commander again the next chance I'd get._

" _Good luck with that, guys!" I said, gearing up. "We'll be back to check up before you know it!"_

" _Make sure to bring back some souvenirs, too!" Amy suggested. "I've always wanted to see what other dimensions are like."_

" _Don't worry! If all goes well," Tails said, "we'll practically be drowning in them."_

" _Okay, let's move!"_

_With that, Tails and I ran through the swirling portal, ready to begin our next grand adventure. Eggman may have a new threat up his sleeves, but we've got new powers too._

_And who knows? We might even make some new friends along the way, see some new sights. The planetary trek I had ten years ago was pretty dang fun, so I'm sure this dimensional romp will be much of the same._

_Either way, this is going to be a journey neither of us will ever forget._

_And I can't wait!_

* * *

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

**[Sonic]**

**World: ?  
Location: ?**

The two of us stepped out of the portal to find ourselves in a vast forest of tall trees, towering above us and leaving the sky practically obscured from our position. The trees still had an abundance of leaves of them, and the ground was pretty green as well, so at the very least we didn't land in winter.

But still though, this definitely wasn't the Green Hill-esque place I expected to go first.

"Jeez, this forest looks dense," I commented, squinting my eyes to look at the far horizon. "I'd smack into all the trees if I tried running here."

"And I suppose that would be pretty inconvenient for you?" Tails teased.

"Well, of course!" I grinned. "You know fresh, open spaces are playgrounds for my feet."

I looked out again, sticking a dumb in a random direction. "Anyway, can you load up a map or something? I don't wanna be just blindly walking and praying."

Tails whipped out his tablet, tapping the screen a few times. "I'm on it!" he declared. The Ruby Replicas pulsed for a bit – the way Tails makes his stuff, I'm guessing they were downloading map data for the place – and a loading bar soon appeared on the screen.

As if to taunt me, on the bottom-right corner were the words  **"NOW LOADING…"**  Yeah, as if I didn't get the reference.

"Oh, great," I groaned. "Loading times."

"Don't worry, it won't be too long," Tails assured me. "We're only downloading the data for the general region, not the entire planet." The two of us watched the bar slowly fill up. If this is what the download speed looks like with two Ruby Replicas, I don't want to know what it'd look like without them.

Now that I think about it, I hope we don't have to be downloading any extra game data or Day One patches, because that'd be a wait time I don't have the patience to sit through. I know SEGA typically doesn't do that, but at this time I really don't want to worry about that.

The sound of a collected Ring emitted from the speakers, and the image of a map was loaded up. "Here we go!" Tails said with a smile.

The map data had the name of the dimension listed, and our relative location too.

**Remnant  
Patch – Verdant Forest**

**Verdant Forest,**  huh? I could've sworn we had a zone by that name already taken back home.

Tails zoomed out the image of our area, revealing that this  **'Patch'**  was a whole island. Beginning our journey on an island – it's making me nostalgic already! …Well, minus the whole forest thing, of course.

"Okay, so according to the map here," Tails began, dragging his finger across the screen, "we should find the nearest settlement a couple miles north of our location." With his finger, he indicated a portion of the map that – while darkened to indicate we hadn't traveled there yet – showed what looked like the icon of a house. "Whoever's there, they might be able to tell us something about Eggman's activities."

"Well, that sounds like a good place to start! I wonder if they have a SEGA Genesis on them?"

So the two of us walked north according to the compass on Tails' tablet. Admittedly, I kind of enjoyed the lush environment and the sound of nothing but chirping birds. It may not beat having any background music but it's a nice way to start our adventure.

"While we're at it," I said, "maybe we should figure out more about how our whole 'RPG' thing works. Those two tutorials we got only really helps for fighting."

"What's that?" Tails grinned. "You actually  _want_  to go through more tutorials?"

"Hey, you make it sound like I ignore every tutorial I come across." Then again, I remember all those Hint Rings telling me useless information all the way back in  _Sonic Forces,_  so maybe he has a point. "So long as it's not Omochao, I think I can tolerate it."

Directly after I finished saying that, a new tutorial prompt materialized in front of us. Huh, these are more context-sensitive than I thought.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]**

**Overworld Systems**

So your  _Frames of Animation™_  adventure is finally beginning! Although you may have won your first fight, there is still so much for you to learn. This tutorial will help get you accompanied with the many systems that function in the overworld – menus, abilities, etc.

As a warning, this tutorial will encompass a fairly large chunk of your play time throughout this first world. There are many, many things to learn, so we apologize for the inconvenience. To compensate, we have done our best to integrate it as best as possible into gameplay, so that you won't be constantly stopped in your tracks to read a text dump.

Initiate the tutorial?

**[YES] / [NO]**

* * *

"Well, at least they're nice about it," Tails noted.

I chuckled at the wording. "Aren't most tutorials just a lengthy text dump, anyway?" I clicked the  **[YES]**  button and continued reading what showed up next.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Using the Menu (1)**

First off, try bringing up the  **main menu!**  To do so, just will the word  **'Menu'**  into your mind and it should appear in front of you.

Alternatively, you can download the free  _Frames of Animation™ Menu_  app from the App Store or Play Store, if you want a solid screen to use the menu from.

* * *

"Menu app?" I read with confusion. Curious, I pulled out my trusty iPhone – that deal with Apple was a pretty smart decision of mine – and I noticed a brand new app icon sitting on the last page.

The icon itself consisted of me and Tails holding a fist up in the air, both our held-up arms side-by-side with one another. The text label beneath read  **'FoA Menu',**  as expected.

"That's actually pretty cool!" I legitimately complimented. A supplementary app to accompany a new game, huh? Sounds a lot better than whatever Nintendo was doing for the Nintendo Switch and voice chat. "Hey Tails, you have this app on your tablet too?"

Tails tapped his screen a few times. His eyes widened. "Wow, I don't remember downloading this!"

"Maybe it downloaded while we were talking with Knuckles and Amy?" I surmised.

"I don't really like the sound of that. Stuff can just download to our devices without warning?"

"Admittedly, that  _does_  sound pretty bad…" I remember a time Eggman snuck a virus onto my phone. It was actually the reason I went and got an iPhone. "Let's just… pretend like that's not a huge problem for now."

I decided to try out the first method of using the menu, so both of us can see it. I mentally commanded  **'Menu',**  and on cue a new screen opened up.

* * *

**Main Menu**

**Location:**  Patch – Verdant Forest  
**Play Time:**  1 Chapters  
**Rings:**  100

 **[Items] [Gear] [Abilities] [Party]  
** ~~[Quests]~~ **[Memory Files] [Config] [Map]**

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Using the Menu (2)**

This is the Main Menu – where you will spend plenty of time in. In the Main Menu, you can perform a large variety of tasks:

The  **[Items]**  menu will bring up your collection of consumable items and Key Items. You can use them from the menu or even set them to shortcuts.

The  **[Gear]**  menu will allow you to peruse your collection of equipment. Equipment can give you a variety of stat upgrades and extra perks, so be sure to change them out regularly.

The  **[Abilities]**  menu will show a list of active  **Combat Abilities**  and  **Passive Abilities**  you have. Combat Abilities can give you new ways to attack in battle; passive abilities work to give you background buffs and effects.

The  **[Party]**  menu will show your current party members and their general game status. The more party members you have, the bigger the advantage you will have in battle!

 **[Memory Files]**  are a sort of adventurer's log that will keep track of everything that will happen on your journey. There are several categories to read, such as  **[Story], [Characters], [Glossary], [Enemies], [Achievements],** and more.

The  **[Config]**  menu will allow you to change many settings for the game. If your gameplay experience is not optimal, try going in here and changing a few functions.

We could expand this tutorial to cover every menu, but that would get quite boring. Besides, we believe that you should find out the intricacies of each menu yourself. Enjoy!

**[OK]**

* * *

Huh, that was pretty detailed. Again, I'm getting plenty of Mario vibes in here (though I'm pretty sure the  **[Memory Files]**  thing is something else entirely.)

After clicking  **[OK],**  I decided to check out my  **Passive Abilities.**  I have a pretty good hold on my general abilities (I mean, I've been adventuring for over twenty-five years), but it doesn't hurt to check what they're listing.

I noticed the menu seem to work a little bit like a computer. Every menu opens up into a screen separate from the main menu, with a little  **[X]**  in the top-right corner much like what a computer window would do. (Something tells me it doesn't work like that for the app, though.)

* * *

**Sonic's Passive Abilities**

**[Scan] Lv. 1**  
As a video game protagonist, you naturally have the ability to see the basic stats of your allies and your enemies.

 **[Super Speed] Lv. MAX  
** You're the Fastest Thing Alive! Your speed is unparalleled throughout a large quantity of the multiverse, and you can induce casual sonic booms on a whim. Getting in and out of danger is no trouble for you.

 **[Chaotic Strength] Lv. 1  
** Through a combination of your status as main protagonist and the effects of the Chaos Emeralds, you have the power to grow steadily more powerful as your adventures continue. This can be amplified with the power of the Chaos Emeralds, which can grant a variety of new abilities.

 **[Heroic Willpower] Lv. MAX**  
You're immune to any and all mind-affecting properties. Seriously. Not even physical deities can stand against the might of your will.  
_(Will grant periodic POW boosts during battle.)_

* * *

Mmmm, I'm liking the sound of those last two.  **[Chaotic Strength]**  and  **[Heroic Willpower]** , eh?

I knew I was always pretty headstrong – Dark Gaia told me that – but to see it confirmed is really something else.

I noticed some of the abilities had a  **Lv. 1**  by their labels. Does that mean we can level them up on our adventure? Judging by our levelling up a couple hours ago, it must be based off a separate system from normal battle EXP.

"Man, they're really going all out on this," I commented. "I'm really getting the sense that this is finished… even though they cited some 'development issues' earlier."

"Maybe they just really polished the early game," Tails suggested, "and they forgot to put much work into the endgame. Or the middle game. Honestly, it could be either one of those."

I tapped the  **[X]** button on my menus, replying, "So long as we don't have to suffer a marathon the likes of Eggmanland, I think we'll be golden."

Another prompt followed the menu's closure. Jeez, is this going to be a regular thing?

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Active Quests**

Every adventure needs  **quests**  for you to complete; otherwise there wouldn't be much a point to going on one to begin with! There are two major types of quests: Main Quests and Side Quests.

 **Main Quests**  and  **Story Quests**  are quests that progress the main storyline in some way, or are relevant to said story. Completing them comes with its own rewards, such as EXP, Rings, Items, and even some other perks.

 **Side Quests**  can be obtained from the people of the worlds around you. They can range from simple fetch quests to defeating hordes of enemies. Although their rewards are lesser than that of the Main Quests, overtime they can add up.

You can take a look at your current quests in the  **[Quests]**  sub-menu. Here, we'll open it up for you with a few quests!

**[OK]**

* * *

As I selected  **[OK]**  again, a whole host of quest prompts opened up one after the other.

* * *

**[MAIN QUEST]  
Let's Crack That Eggman Wide Open!**

**Dr. Eggman's**  at it again! Over the past eight months, he's developed new technologies that will allow him to  **travel through other dimensions**  and  **steal other people's frames per second!**

With your newfound RPG powers, gather  **a band of friends**  and  **venture across the multiverse**  in order to thwart Dr. Eggman's plans. The road may be long, but dang if it won't be an adventure worth running for!

 **[REQUIREMENTS]  
** Beat the game.

 **[REWARDS]**  
You'll find out when you get there…

**[OK]**

* * *

**[STORY QUEST]  
Starting Up From Remnants**

You've arrived on a new dimension – the world of  **Remnant**  – but you're kind of lacking in general direction. What's this place like? Where's Eggman? And has he already affected the civilians of this place?

Thanks to Tails, you've located a house nearby. Hopefully,  **the people who live there**  can help you out on your quest. Here's hoping things go well!

 **[REQUIREMENTS]**  
Get through the  **Verdant Forest**  and reach the house.  
Retrieve information from the civilians inside.

 **[REWARDS]**  
20 EXP  
20 AP  
100 Rings

**[OK]**

* * *

Well, there's one thing I can confidently state – we're not going to be lacking in content this time around! This is definitely going to be more than four hours of story gameplay.

"Now  _this_  is definitely not Mario territory," Tails said, reading over the quest prompts. "I don't think his journeys ever gave him little rewards like that."

"I'm not complaining!" I said. "Who'd ever want to give up free stuff?"

Closing the prompts, we finally decided to get a move on to the nearest house. A mental compass appeared on the top-right corner of my vision, directing us straight up north. As we walked, the only real sound that could be heard was that of our crunching footsteps on the grass.

Admittedly, I kind of liked it. Sure, it's quiet, but it really does show how tranquil nature can be.

Nature's pretty free, you know? Making plants that reach for the stars and growing roots that can stretch deep into the ground. And not to mention, a host of colors as far as the eye can see – green, blue, red, anything goes out there. It's an independence really worth appreciating.

That's part of why I fight to stop Eggman. So that nature can keep on running, creating those colors that just feel so right.

Heh, look at me, getting all sentimental. We've all certainly grown, huh?

The sounds of whirring suddenly forced me out of my thoughts. Straight ahead of us were a bunch of basic  **Motobugs** , moving their little claws threateningly, their robotic irises glaring at us. Just Motobugs? Eggman must not have much of a hold on this place yet. Otherwise, he'd send something more.

Their tags didn't exactly up my impressions of them, either.

 **Motobug (Lv. 1)  
HP:**  18/18

They're not even Level 2 like the Fire Breath mid-boss, they're just Level 1.

"Motobugs?" I remarked. "You just spoil us, Eggman." Without another word, Tails and I began our first real fight of this adventure.

Being the resident Goombas of our quest, the Motobugs weren't really that difficult to take care of. We bounced off of them, slammed them down with Energy Balls, and blew them up with Air Crackers.

As we attacked, we found out that  **Action Commands**  extended to practically every part of our combat system. Usually, they happened either right before we hit an enemy or throwing/shooting our given projectiles. Thanks to a little bit of experience during the Nocturne attack, we got used to them almost immediately – kind of like a new player with plenty of experience playing Mario's RPGs.

Hmm, I wonder if this is why Mario's so effective in fights? His hits always seem to be stronger than you'd expect… and he  _was_  the guy who Trope Named the whole thing to begin with.

While we were fighting, Tails brought out his tablet. "Whatcha doing, Tails?" I asked. Now doesn't really seem like a good time to boot up the Internet.

"I noticed that I had a  **[Scan] Lv. MAX** ability listed," he explained, "and it said something about being related to my Miles Electric, so I figured I might as well try it out."

I dashed to his position, reading over the information that had come up.

* * *

 **Motobug (Lv. 1)  
** _The Basics of Basics_

 **HP:** 18,  **ATK:**  5,  **DEF:**  5,  **SPD:** 5

Eggman's first ever Badnik. If it were an actually living creature, it'd have the (dis)honor of being labeled 'the underling of underlings' alongside Goombas.

Motobugs are slow and only really have one attack – a short dash that is easily avoidable. It'd be really embarrassing to be hit by one, so be careful!

**[OK]**

* * *

"Embarrassing is one way to put it," I snorted. This RPG thing really has a sense of humor. I kind of like that.

Eventually, we finished all the Motobugs, leaving them as scrap metal on the forest floor. I smiled as the animals inside wandered away from the field. "If this is what eight months of silence amounts to," I said, "then I think Eggman needs to get his priorities reordered."

"This is the guy who got rid of dozens of functional Ruby Replicas just because they were limited-use," Tails reminded me. "You know just as well as I do how limited his common sense can be sometimes."

**VICTORY!**

**EXP Earned:**  8  
**Rings Earned:**  20

 **Items:**  Ring Monitor  _(E-Rank)_   **x3**

**[CONTINUE]**

Hey, our first item! Or three, as the case may be. They're even Ring Monitors; these devs really know their references.

I tapped the label to bring up another window with a basic description. Next to said description, there was a picture of a classic Ring Monitor (circa  _Sonic 3 & Knuckles) _with a '5' placed directly on the bottom-right of the Ring icon _._  In our worlds, there are thousands upon thousands of monitors across all of our zones, and Ring Monitors happen to be the most common.

Ring Monitors come in various forms! They can range from giving you just five Rings to fifty, and I once saw a hundred Ring Monitor just lying about. I can't tell you how far my jaw dropped upon seeing  _that_  little beauty.

I read the description.

 **[ITEM]  
Ring Monitor**   _(E-Rank)_

A holding device shaped like a television. Upon usage, it will restore  **30 HP** to a single ally and add  **5 Rings**  to your overall Ring count.

**[OK]**

Huh, that was convenient! I don't think we'll be needing any time soon (as Motobugs are not exactly the most threatening enemy in the multiverse) but they're nice to have.

We continued like this for a while, moving through the forest and trashing several more Motobugs. The process gave us  **28 more EXP** and  **75 more Rings,**  as well as  **two more Ring Monitors** _(E-Rank)_.

We even leveled up! For our bonus stat increase, I went with  **SP**  and Tails went with  **POW.**  Overall, it was an interesting first hour of 'gameplay', if one were to think in gaming terms.

"Woo!" I swiped a hand across my forehead. "Feeling good! These Motobugs at least are a fun exercise, if nothing else." Finally, I noticed some light streaking from in front of us – a clear indicator that we've reached the end of the forest.

Tails checked his tablet. "The house is up ahead!" he proclaimed.

I smirked. I knew exactly what to do in this situation. I got into a crouching position. "How 'bout I race you there?"

My buddy's eyes lit up. "That's fine with me!"

* * *

**[Ruby]**

**Patch – Xiao Long-Rose House**

I leaned forward with determination, my fingers blazing across the controls on my Scroll. "I've got you this time, Yang!" I declared, watching my current character spin straight into my sister's avatar. She may be skilled at playing  _Smash,_  but so am I! …a little bit, at least!

"Not a chance, Rubes!" Yang countered, putting her own gaming skills to good use. "I'm not letting my winning streak go to waste now!"

On our television, the two of us watched the battle play out between Sonic (the guy I'm currently playing as) and Bowser (the big dragon Yang kicks my butt half the time with). Man, I bet if the fight was real, it'd be the fight of the century!

The battle we're having's pretty cool though, too! Like sure, Sonic and Bowser don't use any weapons (but if they did, it'd be so much better!), but the way they just punch and kick and do that wha-zam's almost as good. Of course, that's not really what I'm focusing on right now. Right now,  _I just really wanna win one against Yang!_

Groaaaaan… I should really just start using the guys with swords. There's a  _lot_  of them, and it's so much easier to predict the arc of a weapon. I mean, unlike punches and kicks, it doesn't have a variable length or anything; you just start using them and things just get  _so much easier._  There's  _so much awesome_  about weapons I could gush about them for hours!

…huh? Oh, right! The fight. I was doing that.

Alas, despite my best efforts, Yang won over me. Again. Ughhhh, I'm never gonna win a fight like this. She just automatically knows all the best techniques better than I do!

" _Nooooooooooo!"_  I dramatically wail, dropping my Scroll and raising my hands to the ceiling.  _"Why, Yang, whyyyyyyyyy?"_

"Looks like you've lost again, Rubes!" I could practically hear the grin in my sister's voice. "Don't worry – it's not like I pulled a  _fast_  one on you or anything. Heh heh. Get it?"

" _Yanggggggg…"_  I groaned. Ugh, her and Dad's puns are always so  _terrible!_  I don't know how they think they're funny in any way. I really need to start winning more, if I have to hear another speed-related pun when I lose, I'm gonna scream!

…oh, wait… I just realized you probably don't know who I am! I completely forgot.

I'm Ruby.  **Ruby Rose!**  I'm a  **Huntress-in-Training**  over at Signal Academy. I live with my dad and my elder sister on Patch, and sometimes our Uncle Qrow comes over to visit! I used to have a mom, but she's… not here anymore.

My sister's name is  **Yang Xiao Long.**  I heard from Dad her name means 'sunny little dragon' in some other language, and it makes me wish I had a name half as cool – like maybe, 'Super Fighting Reaper' or something. I'm still proud to be a Rose though, don't get me wrong!

The two of us look pretty different from each other. I'm small and have black-reddish hair with silver eyes. Yang, meanwhile, is tall, busty (sniff), has hair as blonde as the sun, and purple eyes too. People's always telling me how the two of us look nothing alike, but I personally don't think that really matters. Family is family! Appearance has  _nothing_  on that!

School's on break right now, which is why me and Yang are playing our Wii U in our pajamas. This is the fifth match  _in a row_  that I've lost, though. I'm never gonna grab a victory at this rate!

Maybe I should start playing some Training Mode? They always say that 'practice makes perfect,' so if I start practicing playing as Sonic (like how Uncle Qrow makes me practice with Crescent Rose all the time), then I'll get better with him!

And then I'll be able to  _finally_  beat Yang! And I'll laugh in her face and even tell a better joke than she could ever dream of! This plan is foolproof! Foolproof, I tell you!

As I continued to cunningly scheme in my mind, I heard the doorbell ring. That's strange, Dad said we weren't expecting any visitors today. Maybe Uncle Qrow's here for a surprise visit! I hope he's not drunk this time though. I love him and all, but he can get pretty  _weird_  when he's drunk.

"Girls! Can you get the door?" I heard Dad call from upstairs.

"I'm on it!" I shouted back, hopping off the couch and rushing straight for the front door, flower petals trailing behind me. "Ooh, I wonder who it could be?" I opened the door.

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

I could hear my sister turning around from where she sat on the couch. "Hey, Ruby, who's the guest? C'mon, just because you're a  _little_  socially awkward doesn't mean you can just clam up like—"

She similarly went silent. And for good reason, too.

Because standing just outside, right in front of me, was the guy I was  _just playing as_  not five minutes ago.

The same guy who was supposed to be just a video game character.

SEGA's very mascot himself, Sonic the Hedgehog soon said, "Hey there! I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, and this is my best buddy, Tails!" He pointed his thumb to his right, indicating said friend who was proceeding to give us a wave. "We're, uh, kind of new around here. You wouldn't happen to know what the latest news is, right?"

I didn't respond. I  _couldn't_  respond. Like, how are you supposed to react when a fictional character just walks up to you and  _starts trying to have conversation with you?_

_Nothing in school prepares you for this!_

Sonic blinked, confusion and a bit of concern settling in on his face. "…hey, you're okay, right? You should really close your mouth; you don't want to me attracting flies into it."

"Well, if anything," his companion began, "this at least means they still making your video games in this dimension." ( _Dimension!?_  I thought in even more surprise.) "That kind of reaction only comes about when fanfics become reality."

"Really? I know I'm pretty famous and all—" ( _You can say that again!)_  "—but I actually warrant that type of reaction?" He grinned, just like in his video games. "Looks like my fame's finally going places!"

By this point, Yang had gotten up from the couch and was now standing beside me. I can't be too sure since my eyes were currently locked on Sonic, but I'm pretty sure her face was the same as mine.

"Wait… This isn't a hallucination, is it?" she asked. "You're  _actually_  Sonic the Hedgehog, not a hedgehog Faunus pretending to be him, right?"

"I dunno what a Faunus is," he replied, scratching the back of his head, "but yeah, I'm Sonic. Who else would I be, Shadow? Silver?"

With those words, my shock finally eroded into sheer  _awe_. "Oh. My.  _God!"_  I squeed, hugging Sonic as hard as I could. "You're the real Sonic the Hedgehog! This is  _so cool!"_

What? So okay, maybe I don't really know how to deal with this, but that doesn't mean this isn't amazing! It's like meeting another real-life Huntsman or Huntress!

"Hurk!" Sonic made some sort of strange noise. Huh, he's normally more talkative than that in his games.

I could hear Tails sniggering in the background. Yang tapped my shoulder. "Hey, Rubes, don't you think you should give him some breathing room? He looks like a little bluer than normal…"

Bluer than normal? What's Yang talking about? I turned to look at his face, and—Omigosh! I immediately let go, flailing my arms around in panic. "I'm so sorry!" I stammered. "Are you okay!? Did- Did I hug you too hard!?" Please don't tell me I killed him – I can't have my first time meeting a fictional character equal a disaster like that!

"D-Don't worry," Sonic gasped and panted. "I-It's okay. I j-just need… to catch my breath… for a little…"

The sound of footsteps echoed from behind me. "Girls, what's with all the commotion? Please don't tell me Qrow is drunk again…"

Me and Yang looked at the stairs to see Dad walking them down. His head turned in our direction, and promptly gained a bewildered look on his face. (To be honest, I can't blame him.) "Uhh, girls… What exactly am I looking at?"

A huge smile overtook my face. "Dad, Dad, look! Video games are real!"

"Uhhh…" Dad blinked. "Okay?"

* * *

**[Tails]**

Colorful characters are always a given throughout any sort of adventure. I mean, just look at us – our own cast is pretty wide and sporting all sorts of colors. You've got Knuckles and Shadow and Blaze and not to mention the more 'obscure' guys like Nack and Mighty and Bark.

Something really tells me the worlds we'll be crossing over with will be much the same way. I mean, just look at the first three people we've met already, what with their distinctive complexions and blatant anime appearances.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say they're definite protagonist material.

The elder blonde guy here with the cargo shorts invited us in and moved our conversation over to the dining room. I suppose he and his daughters (at least, I think they're his daughters; the blonde one's a dead ringer but I'm not too sure about the other) probably have a lot of questions.

Which makes sense. I mean, they don't exactly have our experience with this kind of thing.

"So…" the elder blonde started, putting a hand to his head. "I think we should get some introductions out of the way. Who exactly are you two?"

Sonic gave off his signature grin, lifting a hand and wagging a finger in a familiar way. "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!" The elder blonde still looked confused. Something tells me he didn't play a lot of video games. "You know, that  _really_  famous video game character? Fastest Thing Alive? Ring any bells?"

"Uhhh… You wouldn't be disappointed if I said no, would you?"

Sonic slumped in mock disappointment. "I could've sworn my legend was widespread enough for the old guys…"

"Anyway," I interjected before Sonic could say another word, "I'm Miles Prower, but everybody calls me Tails. What about you guys?"

"I'm  **Taiyang Xiao Long** ," the elder blonde introduced himself (Finally, an actual name to call him by!), "and these are my daughters, Ruby and Yang."

As I mentally registered his name in my brain, I noticed a new tag appear above his head.

 **Taiyang Xiao Long (Lv. 64)  
** _Living in the Sunshine_

Judging by the fact that he got his own tag, he must be a fairly important NPC of sorts. Or a Bonus Boss, maybe. He even has a title, and his level is (currently) higher than ours!

Dang, sometimes it sucks to be starting an adventure. Always starting at Level 1 and having to work your way back up…

You know, now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder why Knuckles and Amy didn't get any tags when we met up with them.

Maybe there's some merit to those 'development issues' the devs mentioned.

"I'm Ruby Rose!" the ecstatic redhead shouted. She looked like your typical Adorkable young girl, peppy and bouncy and the one everyone would gush over (Moe-ness is scientifically proven to have that effect). "I-It's nice to meet you! I r-really like your games! …even if they're not the best!"

 **Ruby Rose (Lv. 3)  
** _Silver-Eyed Huntress_

Huh, her title draws attention to her silver eyes. Hmm… That might be important later.

"I'm Yang!" the other blonde enthusiastically stated. "I'll be honest, I really didn't expect two video game characters to show up right at our doorstep. It's pretty out there, you know what I mean?"

 **Yang Xiao Long (Lv. 4)  
** _The Burning Dragon_

' _The Burning Dragon'?_  Dang, that's actually a pretty neat-o title.

I heard Taiyang muttering something in the background.  _"Is this what are the 'cool' people are into these days? Blue hedgehogs? Maybe I should check it out myself…"_

"So what are you guys doing here, anyway?" Yang continued. "Are you hunting Chaos Emeralds or something?"

"Not exactly," I answered. Huh, they know what Chaos Emeralds are. "Our bad guy, Dr. Eggman, developed a new technology that allows him to travel through dimensions. And, uh… he had plenty of time to build up an army."

"Wha? But I thought you guys fight him every other week!" Ruby said.

"To be fair, he hasn't done attacks that constant for years," Sonic corrected Ruby. He shuddered. "2007 and 2008 felt like they lasted  _forever…"_

"He kind of went underground for a while," I continued, "and we were so busy recuperating from his  _last_  attack that we didn't really have the time to figure out where he went. We only found out his plan after he bragged about it to us a few hours ago."

Taiyang looked even more confused. "…why would he do that? It's not like it gives him any sort of advantage."

Sonic deadpanned, "Eggman's the type of guy who'd trip you and then proceed to laugh in your face. He loves gloating about how  _'This time, it will be YOUR finish'_  or something along those lines."

Yang put a finger to her chin. "The way your games made him look, he  _did_  seem to be that type of person. His dialogue was good, I'll give him that. Say… If you guys are here right now… does that mean Eggman is too?"

Ruby and Taiyang blinked. It was kinda obvious they hadn't considered that. (Man, now I'm wondering how the people of this place would react to our favorite giant talking egg.)

"Well, that's part of why we're here," I said. "Thanks to a tear in reality, Eggman also has the power to steal the FPS of other people."

"…FPS?" Ruby asked. "What do those gun games Yang plays a lot have to do with anything?"

I clarified, "Not First-Person Shooters. Frames per second. You know, as in how fast a game can run."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh," Yang realized. "You mean, like all the lag that happens whenever I play online… wait, what?" Her eyes widened in realization. "He can… make people… start  _lagging?"_

Taiyang interjected, "Hold on, girls. What's this whole 'lagging' thing about?"

"Lagging is what happens when your game starts slowing down to factors such as unoptimized code or Internet issues," I explained. "Basically, everything within the game starts spluttering in movement, going along at a snail's pace."

"It  _suckkkkkkkkks,"_  Sonic added. "You practically can't do  _anything_  when you're lagging. All you can do is sit there and wait for whoever's lagging to get their Internet properly running again."

"So, let me get this straight," Taiyang said. "So your villain has been travelling through dimensions, building up his forces, and he also has the power to… make people slower than usual? That sounds kind of… far-fetched… but you don't seem like the type to lie."

"Oh! That's why you're here, right!?" Ruby gasped in excitement. "You need to find news about Eggman so you can stop his evil plan!"

"…yeah, actually," Sonic answered with a little bit of surprise. "You sure picked up on that fast."

"Well, it's what every hero does when they find themselves in a new universe! Fanfiction told me that much."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Yang turned to look at Ruby. "Rubes, you read  _fanfiction?"_

"…yeah, I do. Why? Is it wrong?"

"…noooooooooo," Yang replied unconvincingly. "Just… let me see whatever you read next."

Taiyang's eyes narrowed. "Girls, you haven't been reading anything unsavory, have you?"

"Of course not!" Ruby denied. "I wouldn't read any literary filth! Just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't know what not to read!"

"Filth?" I muttered. That's a very… kiddy way of referring to 'Not Safe for Work.'

"Anyway… I'm afraid we haven't heard any irregular news," Taiyang stated. "I'm not certain if anyone else on Patch knows anything, since we're a fairly insular – but we're also a fairly open community, so there's no harm in trying. And if that fails, there'll be plenty of Bullheads for  **Vale**  open tomorrow."

"Sounds great!" Sonic grinned, seemingly ignoring the fact that we have no idea what a 'Bullhead' or a 'Vale' even is (though Vale might be the name of a city or a continent, I'm not sure). "So, uh, I guess we'll head toward the town next. I wonder if they have any chili d—"

"Hey, how about you stay with us a little bit longer?" Ruby interjected. "I really want to know more about your adventures!"

"You sure about that, Ruby?" Taiyang asked, his brow furrowing. "I'm pretty sure they have a lot of things to be doing…"

"Aw come on, Dad!" Yang said, slinging an arm around Taiyang. "These guys are interesting! What's the harm in letting them stay a while?"

Taiyang attempted to muster up a reason, but it was clear he couldn't really come up with any at that precise moment. "Alright, alright," he conceded. "If you two really want it, I suppose I can't really complain." Under his breath, he muttered, "I have  _no_  idea what I'm going to tell Qrow about this…"

"Well, that's fine with us!" I replied, a smile on my face.

"This. Is. GREAT!" Ruby exclaimed, her arms in the air in excitement. "Ohhhhh, I can't wait to show you two the collection of games we have! We've got a Wii, a Wii U, a PS4, and you guys can play too! Let me go get a controller for you guys!"

In the blink of an eye, Ruby sped out of the room at a rate similar to Sonic's. My eyes widened in shock as I felt wind blow through my fur.

H-How did she  _do_  that? Is this a world where people just casually have superpowers or something? A-And, what's with the rose petals trailing behind her?

Sonic whistled. "I didn't you know you guys had a speedster in the family. I think I'd like to race her sometime."

Taiyang chuckled in response. "Ruby's always been a pretty energetic girl, so her Semblance allows her to travel at quick speeds. Funny how much Semblances always seem to reflect the type of person you are."

"Semblances?" I repeated the term, my voice taking on a more questioning tone. That sounded like a pretty important term. "What are those?"

"You don't know what Semblances are?" Yang asked with her face showcasing clear disbelief, before shaking her head. "Right, from a different dimension, forgot about that."

"I'll explain for you," Taiyang said. " **Semblances**  are the personalized ability of a Huntsman or Huntress. They come about as a result of unlocking your  **Aura**  – which is the manifestation of one's soul."

"Personalized? Aura?" Sonic muttered. "Jeez, this is sounding a lot like Personas right now."

"What exactly does this Aura do?" I asked. My curiosity was now thoroughly peaked – this type of stuff sounds fascinating to study! By this point, I had whipped out my Miles Electric in order to take a few notes.

Seemingly ignoring my pulling my tablet out, he continued, "Aura has a lot of utilities. It can act as a shield, used as an offensive attack, or even power up your Semblance. For example, Yang's Semblance allows her to absorb damage and dish it back twice as hard."

"Sounds a lot like a Berserker, or a type of Bruiser," I noted.

"Yep! I'm pretty strong!" Yang gloated. "There's not a lot of people at Signal who can take me down." She looked pretty proud at that. They must have a lot of fighters over at this Signal school.

Now I'm wondering how well she'd stack against the contenders for the Smash tournaments. Sonic's always telling me all about his fellow 'Smashers', as that weird hand guy collectively calls them.

"Hey, now that I think about it, what are Huntsmen and Huntresses?" Sonic queried. "They definitely don't sound like just animal hunters, or I wouldn't be hearing the capital letters."

"Huntsmen and Huntresses do pretty important jobs here on Remnant," Taiyang began to explain. "They—"

" _Oh my gosh!"_  Ruby's voice suddenly resonated through the room, surprise evident in her voice.  _"Yang, Dad, come look outside!"_

Taiyang and Yang immediately rushed out of the room, their faces showing a bit of distress. Sonic and I both looked at each other. A stern, determined look appeared on our faces as we nodded in unison, running out of the room after the other two.

Ruby's face was pressed against the window next to the front door, her bright silver eyes having gone quite wide. The four of us followed her gaze, and it didn't take us very long to figure out exactly  _why_  she had yelped like that.

A squadron of familiar robots – specifically Egg Pawns and a couple of Nebulas (those circular green bots with propellors we've been seeing since Westside Island) – stood bunched together in front of the house. The Egg Pawns came equipped with a bunch of lances and shields, and there were even a few purple ones with rocket launchers.

Leading the crew was a face Sonic and I hadn't seen in  _years_  (or more accurately, hadn't seen again until  _Sonic Mania_  became a thing) – it was an blue Egg Robo with an outfit much like a police officer's, with a siren on its head and red optics for eyes. He was flying off the ground with a jetpack strapped to the back of his head, a rectangular rocket launcher in his left arm.

It was the first of Eggman's Hard-Boiled Heavies – the  **Heavy Gunner.**

 **[BOSS] Heavy Gunner (Lv. 8)**  
_Officer of Heavy Chaos  
_**HP:**  160/160,  **FP:**  60/60

"Oh great," I heard Sonic mutter under his breath. "Eggman's rehashing Badniks from not even a year ago."

" **Citizens of this household!"**  the Heavy Gunner began to speak, its robotic tone loudly laced with authority that I'm pretty sure it didn't have.  **"We know that you are housing Robotnik public enemies Sonic and Tails within the vicinity!"**

"Public enemies?" Taiyang said aloud.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to put it," I commented. "I mean, we've only been fighting him for over twenty-five years…"

" **If enemies Sonic and Tails come out and surrender to our forces now,"**  the Heavy Gunner continued,  **"then we** _ **may**_ **just leave your house alone and untarnished. But should they refuse or no response be given…"**

The elite Egg Robo cocked its rocket launcher menacingly.  **"…we will have no choice but to use force to enforce our ruling! And let me tell you a little something…**

" **I wouldn't mind a little property damage with all the chaos, if you get my drift!"**

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

"A Warrior Will Soon Run Wild"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we've officially entered our first crossover – _RWBY,_ circa a year prior to canon! I know, I know, you guys who've actually heard of the show probably want the crossover to be mid-Beacon at most – but I've got start relatively small, you know? (Besides, I've got plans for that long in the future.)
> 
> As you should very well know, RPGs typically have a slow start, giving you plenty of exposition and tutorials in order to get accustomed to the systems you'll be seeing for dozens of hours on end. **_Frames of Animation_** will be much the same!
> 
> Also, as you can clearly see, the _Mario & Luigi_ series won't be purely my only source of inspiration for this fic – I'll be taking a few cues from _Kingdom Hearts_ as well (among other things). This way, I think things will be the most interesting, since not all _Mario & Luigi_ mechanics are bound to translate well to fanfiction.
> 
> The name **Verdant Forest** is a reference to _Sonic Robo Blast 2_ , an actually pretty cool Sonic fan game. **Verdant Forest** is one of the zones in one of its many level packs, Mystic Realm, so I thought it'd be fun to do a little nod to it.
> 
> I always think its fun when one series in a crossover has already heard of the other series through said other series' source material (video games, literature, show, you know the works), so I had Ruby be an avid fan of Sonic. Hey, if that RTX 2016 stream is any indication, it might as well be canon.
> 
> The latter half of this chapter was a little difficult to write – specifically, all the exposition that needs to be traded. It is important for our protagonists to learn all about the worlds they'll be exploring, so it was unavoidable.
> 
> Hopefully, the dialogue between all three _RWBY_ characters are accurate to the source material. I always worry about how well I can write each character, so I hope they're too your liking.
> 
> And yes, the Hard-Boiled Heavies are back. They're a pretty interesting group of bosses, so I hope you don't mind me rehashing them from not even a year back.
> 
> Next time on **_Frames of Animation,_** we watch as Eggman's forces begin their assault on the Xiao Long-Rose House! Tune in next time for then!


	3. A Warrior Will Soon Run Wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heavy Gunner and his band of Badniks are attacking the Xiao-Long Rose House, and Sonic and Tails are out to strike back! But that's not all -- Ruby and Yang's got some trump cards up their sleeves, too...

**_Last time…_ **

_A squadron of familiar robots – specifically Egg Pawns and a couple of Nebulas (those circular green bots with propellers we’ve been seeing since Westside Island) – stood bunched together in front of the house. The Egg Pawns came equipped with a bunch of lances and shields, and there were even a few purple ones with rocket launchers._

_Leading the crew was a face Sonic and I hadn’t seen in_ years _(or more accurately, hadn’t seen again until_ Sonic Mania _became a thing) – it was an blue Egg Robo with an outfit much like a police officer’s, with a siren on its head and red optics for eyes. He was flying off the ground with a jetpack strapped to the back of his head, a rectangular rocket launcher in his left arm._

_It was the first of Eggman’s Hard-Boiled Heavies – the **Heavy Gunner.**_

**[BOSS] Heavy Gunner (Lv. 8)**  
_Officer of Heavy Chaos  
_**HP:** 160/160, **FP:** 60/60

_“Oh great,” I heard Sonic mutter under his breath. “Eggman’s rehashing Badniks from not even a year ago.”_

**_“Citizens of this household!”_ ** _the Heavy Gunner began to speak, its robotic tone loudly laced with authority that I’m pretty sure it didn’t have. **“We know that you are housing Robotnik public enemies Sonic and Tails within the vicinity!”**_

_“Public enemies?” Taiyang said aloud._

_“Well, I suppose that’s one way to put it,” I commented. “I mean, we’ve only been fighting him for over twenty-five years…”_

**_“If enemies Sonic and Tails come out and surrender to our forces now,”_ ** _the Heavy Gunner continued, **“then we may just leave your house alone and untarnished. But should they refuse or no response be given…”**_

_The elite Egg Robo cocked its rocket launcher menacingly. **“…we will have no choice but to use force to enforce our ruling! And let me tell you a little something…**_

**_“I wouldn’t mind a little property damage with all the chaos, if you get my drift!”_ **

* * *

**[Ruby]**

**Patch – Xiao Long-Rose House**

**“WHAT!?”** me and Yang exclaimed aloud. P-Property damage!? T-T-They can’t d-do that, right? Mom and Dad spent so long making this house! We-- We can’t just let it be destroyed like that, by these _crazy_ _robots!_

“So that’s how they want to play,” Sonic said. “Alright then -- we’ll show ‘em who’s boss, just like last time!”

“Are you really sure about that?” Dad asked, a worried look appearing on his face. “Those weapons look dangerous. Just going in and tackling them doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“Hey, it’ll be fine!” Sonic assured him, wearing a sort of cocky grin. “We’ve handled stuff like this before several times! We’ll take them down easily, don’t worry!”

“This won’t take too long,” Tails added. “Just sit here and wait for us!”

Without another word, Sonic and Tails quickly opened the door, dashed outside, and closed it behind them. They seemed pretty confident about their odds, but judging by their stories about Eggman’s current plot, they might be in trouble.

I heard Dad muttering something under his breath – I think it was _“I don’t get paid enough for this”_ or something similar – and then he said to me and Yang, “Girls, you know where you keep your weapons, right?”

“Of course!” I replied, a little indignant. “I would never forget where I put my sweetheart! That’d be like not eating any cookies, _ever!_ You just don’t do that!”

“Ignoring how Ruby’s comparing weapons to cookies, yes,” Yang answered after me.

“Alright, get dressed into your combat clothes and get your weapons. We can’t just let those two out there fight alone.”

Using my Semblance, I dashed up the stairs and into my and Yang’s bedroom. Despite the current situation, I was actually pretty excited. I mean, going into a fight together with _Sonic and Tails_ of all people? That’s like every fan’s dream!

Oh, and it’ll be even _better_ , because I’ll have my **sweetheart** with me! Ohhhhhhh, I’ve always wanted to use these against actual enemies! Uncle Qrow, your teachings won’t be in vain! (Maybe I’ll even get to use some cool karate moves, like in those movies we watch sometimes!)

Yang came in a little after me. “Gee, Ruby!” she teased. “I know you’re excited, but you don’t have to run up here so fast!”

“I can’t help it!” I said, my hands clasped together, fingers twiddling with eagerness. “I mean, it’s _Sonic and Tails!”_ As I was speaking, I dove under my bed, whipping out my baby in its compact storage form. “And we’re going to join them in style, aren’t we, Crescent Rose?” I cooed to my weapon. “Yeah, that’s right – we’re going to be heroes, just like them!”

…what? I really like weapons!

Don’t look at me like that, it’s perfectly natural!

Honest!

Yang sighed in a long-suffering fashion. (Pfft, she thinks _she’s_ suffering? _I_ have to sit through all her puns, all the time!) “I still don’t get your obsession with weapons, Rubes,” she stated, pulling out her own gauntlets from her drawers by her bed. “Like, I get that they’re our primary forces against the Grimm as Huntresses, but you don’t need to romanticize them so much, you know?”

I gasped dramatically. How could she say that!? _“Yang!_ You know that weapons are an extension of us! They’re like a part of our souls! There’s nothing else in the _world_ that can compare to them! Like, where would _you_ be without Ember Celica! You’d just—“

“Alright, alright, I get it, I get it,” Yang halted my explanation. “You don’t need to go on another long rant about weapons. I think I’ve heard that, what, thirty times already?”

“It’s thirty- _two_ times, thank you very much!” I corrected her. Jeez, if she’s gonna count _that_ of all things, she can at least get the number correct! “Now let’s hurry up!” I ran to my closet, throwing my usual Huntress outfit onto my bed. “I want to help out with defending our house, too! Show up all cool and BANG! SHAPOW!”

Yang chuckled. “You don’t have to rush _that_ much, but… if you say so!”

* * *

**[Sonic]**

**Patch – Xiao Long-Rose House (Outside)**

I jumped from the porch to right in front of Eggman’s latest batch of Badniks. “Yo, Heavy Gunner!” I called out to the group. “You’ve got some nerve, coming in and threatening to blow a house like that. Someone could get hurt, you know!”

 **“That’s the point!”** Heavy Gunner exclaimed, raising his hands in the air. **“What, you expected a warm welcome and some nice treats?”**

“It would be pretty hospitable,” Tails said, hovering behind me. “I mean, come on! Nothing for Eggman’s greatest enemies? I would’ve expected maybe a Shield Monitor or something!”

The Heavy Gunner made a noise that sounded something like a snort. (Man, I didn’t know Eggman’s robots could do such a realistic snort.) **“A _Shield Monitor?_ Do you believe us robots are stupid, or something?”**

I put my fingers beneath my chin in faux speculation. “I dunno, you guys have a lot of mob mentality and all… And that’s not even mentioning the limited amount of defenses Eggman tends to give you guys. Is it really that surprising that things usually turn out that way?”

Tails chimed in, “You’re a lot like Eggman himself – no common sense whatsoever! Or enough intelligence. Or any cool abilities. Or…”

 **“Enough!”** the elite ‘bot shouted, totally enraged. You could actually see some cartoon smoke coming out of his head (probably from overheat, or something). **“You have insulted the name of Robotnik long enough!”**

“Robotnik?” I remarked. “I thought he retired using that name a long time ago. What, is he _really_ trying to get into the rehashing spirit?”

 **“Shut your spindly mouth!”** Heavy Gunner snapped, pointing a shaking finger at us. **“Badnik squad! In the name of our great emperor… ATTACK!”**

The Egg Pawns and Nebulas blindly charged forth, as was custom for Eggman robots at this point, as Heavy Gunner started hovering high above the battleground, aiming his rocket launcher. Typical cowardly robots; they’re all bark and no bite, just like Eggman.

Tails whipped out his tablet and scanned the enemies in front of us.

* * *

 **Egg Pawn (Lv. 2)  
** _Modern Mook of Eggs_

 **HP:** 22, **ATK:** 5, **DEF:** 5, **SPD:** 5

Eggman’s modern-day typical minion, designed to be very reproducible and energy efficient. They don’t even require animals to power them! Isn’t that just kind of him?

Egg Pawns are designed to be versatile in their combat methods, but this particular brand fights exclusively hand-to-hand. They’re basically Motobugs but reskinned, so you should treat as such.

**[OK]**

* * *

**Nebula (Lv. 2)  
** _Chase You to the Skies_

 **HP:** 14, **ATK:** 3, **DEF:** 3, **SPD:** 8

One of many mass-producible Badniks by Eggman. These are pretty old too -- they go back as far back as 1992!

Nebulas can fly relatively fast and drop spike balls on their foes. In addition, their mobility allows them to be able to slam into enemies with relative ease. Keep your guards up around them!

**[OK]**

* * *

“These shouldn’t be too difficult to defeat,” Tails informed me, “but that doesn’t mean we should let our guards down. Who knows what kind of upgrades Eggman’s given them?”

I eyed Heavy Gunner carefully, his 60 Frame Points taunting me above his head. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” I said. I got into a battle stance, my fists tightened. “Now, _let’s dance!”_

I jumped toward one of the Nebulas and slammed my foot against its side. Said Nebula went vertically spinning away, a bunch of damage being dealt to it. In response, one of the Egg Pawns dived toward me, swinging its arms in a vain attempt to get at me.

Of course, I wouldn’t let myself be hit by such an easily avoidable attack. (I mean, do you _think_ you could see me slamming into so many walls whenever I dash through Spagonia? Fat chance!) With ease, I sidestepped outta the way, stepping on the Egg Pawn’s foot while I was at it.

I laughed a bit (“Ha ha!”) as I watched the Egg Pawn flinch in obvious pain, holding its foot and hopping around all about the place. It was hilarious! I honestly didn’t know Eggman programmed his ‘bots with ‘pain receptors’, as I heard Tails refer to them once. Maybe once this is all over, I can go perform a bunch of pranks at them at one of Eggman’s bases or something.

Deciding to put the poor Badnik out of its misery, I bounced onto the guy multiple times, making sure to perform several successive Action Commands while I was at it. (Too bad I don’t get any bonuses for this.) A cloud of smoke indicated to me that the Egg Pawn was downed – which was great and all, but there was quite a ways left to go before we were done.

A bunch more Egg Pawns and Nebulas tried to swarm me, but Tails easily knocked quite a number of them back with his—well, tails. Throwing a Dummy Ring Bomb to distract them, he opened out his hand for me to grab. “How ‘bout we do a **Thunder Shoot?** ” he suggested.

“I like the way you think!” Taking his hand, the two of us flew into the air, several spiked balls (and Egg Pawns) missing us in the process. In rapid succession, Tails rocketed me toward several of the enemies, my spines tingling with electricity in the process. For the Badniks, it was no contest who’d be fast enough to dodge: that is to say, none of them.

“YAHOOOOOO!” I cried, feeling the rush of several enemies destroyed. Landing back in Tails’ hands, we were about to do another Thunder Shoot when a freaking giant _rocket_ interrupted us at really fast speeds, blasting us away.

I got back onto my feet relatively quickly, noting my HP value seemed to be dramatically lower than it was five seconds ago.

 **Sonic the Hedgehog (Lv. 3)**  
_The Fastest Thing Alive  
_**HP:** 20/28, **SP:** 19/19

“Sweet mother of Chaos!” I swore. “What kind of attack was that!?”

And then I remembered the Heavy Gunner, and looked up. Sure enough, there he was, still hovering over the battlefield, only now his rocket launcher was very obviously smoking. I noticed him gearing up to do it again, and I immediately sidestepped out of the way again in time to see another rocket firing at breakneck speeds.

Like, sheesh! Dude needs to learn some courtesy!

“Hey, you can’t just shoot us when you’re doing no actual fighting!” I protested loudly.

 **“Oh, but I can!”** Heavy Gunner replied, barely even caring out my very valid complaints. **“Why would I sit around and let you easily defeat me?”**

“Again, _you’re not even **in** this fight!”_

**“Pfft, small details! Just stand there and let these rockets hit you! It won’t cause too much damage!”**

“Fat chance!” Again, I got my feet moving, another cloud of smoke just barely missing me. And all the while, the other Badniks had taken the time to prep their attacks. (I guess talking no longer counts as a free action, then.)

Tails spin dashed by my side, tails twirling behind him as he ran. “Sonic, what do we do?” he asked, his gaze pointed at the cheating gunner. “If we try to take him down now, he’ll just blast us out again!”

“I have no idea,” I admitted. His crazy rocket launcher wasn’t the only problem either; his 60 Frame Points means that he’ll be fast enough to avoid any hit we try anyway. Why the heck did Eggman throw a Wake-Up Call Boss now of all times, anyway!? We’ve only _just_ begun this adventure! You don’t throw those type of bosses until we’re Level 12 or something!

That’s Basic Game Design 101!

…then again, this _is_ Sonic Team we’re talking about…

Another rocket, and this time Tails targeted the thing with another of his Dummy Ring Bombs. Meanwhile, I homed in on some of the Nebulas in an attempt to take them out first – I mean, we already have an annoying flying enemy up there, we don’t need _more._

For good measure, I uncurled and dropped an Air Cracker on the floor, blowing up several more Egg Pawns who were unlucky enough to try swarming my position. (Good AI, Eggman. Really.) The remaining Nebulas took this chance to fire more spike balls at me, which I avoided through a hard Stomp.

And then they all started rushing at me right after.

My eyes narrowed in annoyance. Great. Now _all_ of them aren’t playing fair.

I crouched down in preparation for a Spin Dash, but then I was interrupted by the sound of several gunshots going off, followed by half of the Nebulas falling down and turning into scrap. “W-Wait, _what!?”_ I yelped. Last I checked, Tails’ cannon fired Energy Balls, so who could’ve that been?

The sound came from behind me, so I turned around and—

_That is one huge-ass scythe._

Ruby stood on the porch, her pajama clothing replaced with a black blouse and skirt with red highlights, not to mention a long flowing red cloak behind her. She also wore some sort of brown stockings, accompanied by similarly black-and-red boots.

But the most noticeable thing about her at the given moment was the _giant freaking scythe of doom_ being held casually in her hands, handled with experienced ease. The frame of the scythe was a striking faded red with black trims, and the crescent shape looking _extremely_ sharp in design.

Strangely, Ruby was holding the thing with two hands, holding it as if she were aiming it. My questions on why she was holding it that way were answered when more bullets came out of it and struck more of the Nebulas.

 _It’s also a gun!?_ I realized. Sweet Chaos, what kind of things do this world’s Huntsmen and Huntresses fight to require stuff like _that!?_

I’d rather face Tabuu again!

Similarly, Tails was staring in amazement – likely from the weapon’s complex design. (He’s always been a mechanic, so I guess I can’t blame him.) “Whoa…” he awed. “That’s _cool…”_

 **“What in the name of Robotnik!?”** I heard Heavy Gunner exclaim. **“You can’t just join in the fight with such a weapon! That is considering cheating!”**

 _“Hypocrite!”_ Tails yelled appropriately.

“Hey, _you’re_ the one who wanted to blow up our house!” Ruby shot back. “Besides…” She twirled her scythe with a single hand – again, I _realllllllly_ don’t want to be caught within that thing’s range – before aiming it at the Heavy Gunner. “…what kind of Huntress would I be if I didn’t fight against evil?”

“You said it, Ruby!” Behind Ruby stepped out Yang. Much like her sister, Yang was very differently dressed. She was wearing a brown jacket with a yellow crop top underneath, both showing off her midriff and cleavage quite prominently. Her brown belt was also accompanied by the world’s shortest pair of shorts (plus some cloth hanging off both sides), not to mention her long brown boots and an orange infinity scarf.

Actually, that scarf looks pretty cool. I mean, it really compliments her outfit and fits around her neck quite snugly. I’ve always appreciated scarfs even if I don’t wear them a lot. (Boom!Me’s pretty good in that department, if I must say.)

…wait, where was I?

Noticeably, there were two bright yellow bracelets over Yang’s hands, and they were rather metallic and plated in nature. My mind told me it had to be a weapon, much like Ruby’s big-ass scythe, though what it was remained the question. Likely, it was something akin to Knuckles, judging by how Tails described her as a sort of Berserker. (Wonder if the gauntlets having random spikes, too?)

“Besides, I’m itching for a fight anyway,” Yang continued, “and you look like a good target to punch my first through!”

Heavy Gunner snorted in amusement. **“You can try all you might,”** he declared, **“but you’ll never be able to defeat me! I’m just like Air Man – an unstoppable force of nature!”**

“I dunno what an ‘Air Man’ is,” Ruby stated (“Seriously?” I overheard Tails mutter. “I could’ve sworn Mega Man was still a popular thing…”), “but that doesn’t matter! We’re gonna prove you wrong! Nothing is unstoppable so long as we’re together!”

“Yeah!” Yang said, even though she was snickering. (It might have something to do with Ruby’s rather cheesy statement, but hey _I_ thought it was pretty neat myself!) “You heard her!”

 **“Does it look I care?”** Heavy Gunner retorted. **“You’re just another target to be blown up!”** Without another word, the Heavy Gunner guy aimed its pencil sharpener gun and shot a rocket at the two.

And the fight began again.

* * *

**[Ruby]**

This is it!

This is my first battle as a real Huntress!

I’m actually going to be fighting real enemies and saving people!

Sure, I’m still in training, and sure, I’m saving our own house, and _sure,_ the enemies I’m fighting are robots from a villain that _used_ to be fictional…

…but that doesn’t matter, because at this point, I’m taking my first step to becoming a real Huntress, just like mom!

**YEAH!**

And here I am, triumphantly standing in front of our house with my trusty **Crescent Rose** (That’s my weapon. Ain’t it so cool!?) in hand, shooting down a bunch of Badniks and helping out _Sonic the Hedgehog_ himself! How can you _not_ think this is awesome!?

(Though I did see some of those robots head behind the house, but Dad can take care of it. He’s strong! He always gives Yang a run for her money, so he’ll be fine!)

And that rocket the weird elite robot guy fired? That was child’s play! I effortlessly shot down the rocket and it blew up with aplomb (Woooooooo!), but that didn’t stop Heavy Gunner from firing more rockets at us.

Eh, he can try, but I’ve got plenty of bullets! I kept shooting down the missiles, my scythe’s sniper function firing on all cylinders, and I’m pretty sure I saw Heavy Gunner steaming in rage. In terms of making villains mad, I guess that’s score one for me!

Yang was rushing straight toward a bunch of the Egg Pawns, her **Ember Celica** having transformed into their gauntlet forms. With an excited yell, she slammed her fists into them, knocking them back with a shockwave. Heh, typical Yang. Always running in head-first.

Sonic and Tails, meanwhile, seemed to finally get over their shock (Eeeeee! They’re actually surprised over my own weapon! Using a scythe really _was_ the best decision I’ve ever made!) and started fighting alongside Yang.

“Hey, you’re pretty good!” Sonic complimented, kicking away an Egg Pawn.

“Thanks!” Yang replied, blasting away another flying enemy. “Man, this is good exercise!”

The Heavy Gunner, looking totally peeved, started firing his rocket launcher at rapid speeds, sending several missiles rocketing through the air. (And jeez, what was with their directional paths? That’s not how missiles are supposed to work at all!)

Gripping my scythe, I spun it into several of the incoming projectiles, and _KABOOM!_ Its sharp blade took them out immediately! Then I fired downward and propelled myself into the air, spinning vertically and destroying even more of them.

A bunch of the green guys also tried charging in, but I just activated my Semblance and dashed between them. The momentum produced caused said green guys to twist rapidly. Their flight paths quickly became unstable, and then they fell out of the sky and exploded.

“YEAH!” I exclaimed, landing back down on the ground. Score another one for taking the bad guys down! I didn’t even lose any of my Aura, either!

…but man, these guys are actually kind of weak. Aren’t the heroes’ debuts supposed to be epic and hard? I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I would’ve liked my debut to be pretty cool.

Ah well! It’s still hero-ing at the end of the day!

That missile I sent toward the big bad robot dude finally crashed into him, an explosion of fire knocked him from his comfort zone. **“RAAARRRGHHH!”** he bellowed to the sky (not sure how that helped). **“What does it take to get rid of a few nuisances around here!?”**

As the Heavy Gunner continued to seethe, Tails snuck up from underneath and tossed a weird box at him. Surprisingly, it actually blew up (Man, that’s _cool!),_ releasing a ton of Rings (But they looked kinda greyed out. Were they fake or something?) and also ticking off the guy a little more. “A lot more than you think, Gunner!” Tails taunted, much like how Sonic would.

“C’mon, you really should’ve expected this,” Sonic added, “especially when you’re trying to induce a Difficulty Spike too early in the game!” ...’Difficulty Spike’? What’s that? Is it a really, really hard and sharp spike?

 **“FINE!”** he growled. **“Maybe I won’t be able to defeat you _this_ time… But I won’t let you go without a little pain!”** The robot’s rocket launcher suddenly started charging some sort of green ball, getting bigger and bigger by the second.

Sonic’s eyes suddenly widened in horror. “Oh sweet Chaos… don’t tell me Eggman gave _that_ to you too!” he exclaimed. I was confused. _Wha? What’s the robot doing? Is it **that** bad?_ That didn’t leave me feeling great about that.

“What do you mean, ‘you two’!?” Yang wanted to know, turning to Sonic. “You mean you’ve seen that before?”

To the side, Tails reached into… somewhere and pulled out a tablet out of _literally nowhere._ What the doo-doo? Where did that come from? What’s with the weird stones on the antennae? _Is it also a gun?_

“It’s the same color as Eggman’s ART Gun!” Sonic explained, taking one of his weird landmines into his hands. “Tails, what can you tell us about this?”

Tails was tapping away at his tablet – and man, that thing looks bulky. Do they not have any Scrolls or Scroll-like technology in their world? …I’d forgive it if they were guns. “This is bad,” Tails stated. “He’s going to be firing a frame-stealing gun! It won’t affect me and Sonic, but…”

“…that’s not gonna help me or Ruby, will it?” Yang deadpanned.

“Nope,” Tails confirmed. (Under his breath, I heard him mutter, _“It’s déjà vu, only faster. We **just** went through this!”)_

It didn’t take me long for my mind to get the idea. I lifted Crescent Rose again and fired some more bullets, but the jerk just flew outta the way! And he didn’t stop charging!

I kept firing a few more times and the same result happened; he’s faster than I can hit him! How did Tails manage to land one on him, anyway!?

“I can’t hit him!” I cried. “He’s just too fast!”

**“HAHAHAHAHA! You believe you can stop me? My duty as an officer of Robotnik’s forces transcends your pitiful power!”**

“Let me try!” Yang aimed her gauntlets to the floor and fired, propelling herself into the air in an attempt to try hitting the Heavy Gunner. The robot in response just flew upward, but that didn’t stop Yang from firing a few of her own bullets at ‘em. Again, the explosive shells didn’t get any close.

 **“Time for you to perish, in the name of the law!”** Finally, the Heavy Gunner fired his launcher, and a giant electrified green ball came right toward us.

It didn’t look good.

Nor did it look like it would taste like cookies.

Ooh, now I want cookies.

…wait, that’s right! The attack! OH CRAP!

“Brace yourselves!” Sonic exclaimed, inciting Yang to put up a defensive stance.

Unfortunately, my own reflexes weren’t fast enough (I think Yang would call this irony?) to dash away, and guarding wouldn’t exactly help me in this situation, and so I found our entire world was engulfed in emerald light. But… I didn’t feel hurt at all?

In fact, I was feeling a surge of energy go through me! I haven’t felt this powered up since Dad unlocked my Aura for me! “Whoa!” I yelped, gaping at the weird squares that were showing up _everywhere._ And what was with those computer noises?

“W-What is this?” Yang wondered.

Tails, meanwhile, were staring with wide eyes at all the weird stuff going on. “…is-- is _this_ how we’re going to get new party members?” he asked Sonic. Party members? Huh?

Sonic’s face was half-lidded, for some reason. “I can’t tell whether or not this is better or worse than what Forces did. And I don’t think I want to know.”

And then a scroll window opened up in front of my face.

* * *

 ** Ruby Rose **  
**Level 3 (E-Rank)**   
_Silver-Eyed Huntress_

 **HP:** 28/28  
**SP:** 22/22  
**POW:** 32 (18)  
**DEF:** 22 (19)  
**SPEED:** 45  
**COOL:** 17

 **EXP:** 0/120  
**To Next Level:** 120

**[Gear] [Rank-Up Bonuses] [Combat Abilities] [Passive Abilities]**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

...wha? This is… _wha?_

“…okay, _what_ is this supposed to be?” Yang echoed my thoughts.

She had a similar screen in front of her, and just like me, she looked like she had no idea what it was either. So on the bright side, at least I’m not the only one confused!

* * *

 **Yang Xiao Long**  
**Level 4 (E-Rank)**  
_The Burning Dragon_

 **HP:** 40  
**SP:** 12  
**POW:** 52 (40)  
**DEF:** 44 (40)  
**SPEED:** 37  
**COOL:** 15

 **EXP:** 0/160  
**To Next Level:** 160

**[Gear] [Rank-Up Bonuses] [Combat Abilities] [Passive Abilities]**

**[Close]**

* * *

Tails looked like he just remembered something. He snapped his fingers. “Oh, _right!_ We never told ‘em anything about our new RPG system! _”_ he realized.

“RPG system?” I asked, idly tapping the **[Close]** button on the weird screen. “We’re not talking about guns, are we?”

 **“OH COME ON!”** Heavy Gunner exclaimed in frustration, raising his hands to the sky. **“Why won’t you _die!?”_**

True to form, Yang quickly lost her perplexed look and smirked. “That was supposed to take us down?” she questioned. “That didn’t even scratch us! In fact, I feel better than ever!”

The Heavy Gunner growled. **“Luckily for you, this has just put all our current strategies into disarray. Master Robotnik will need to be hearing about this.”** Does… Does that mean we won?

YEAH! My first battle as a real Huntress and _we won!_ This is AWESOME!

 **“But don’t get too comfortable!”** the Heavy Gunner snapped. **“I’ll be back to take you down before long. Soon, you and this entire planet will know the name of Master Robotnik’s Empire, mark my words!”**

At long last, the Heavy Gunner flew off into the distance, right into a red portal that had appeared in the far horizon. The remaining robots soon followed, warping away to… wherever Eggman’s base was.

But that didn’t matter, because we won! We won, we won, _we won!_

“That… was… awesome!” I declared, jumping up and down frantically. “We were like, actual Huntresses, Yang! _Actual Huntresses!”_

“You said it, Ruby,” my sister agreed.

On cue, another screen popped up in my face.

** VICTORY! **

**EXP Earned:** 30  
**Rings Earned:** 200

 **Items:** Green Material **x3**

**[CONTINUE]**

“Look! Even the weird… Scroll… floaty-mabob agrees with me!” I said, pointing toward it with the greatest smile on my face. “I dunno what it’s talking about when it says **‘EXP Earned’,** but hey! It’s something!”

“Weird… Scroll… floaty-mabob?” Sonic chuckled. “That’s one way to put it.”

“Hey, what else am I supposed to call it?” I protested with a pout. “I don’t exactly know what this is, after all!”

“Hey, uh… You guys wouldn’t know anything about these screens, do you?” Yang interjected, looking pointedly at Sonic. “You don’t look too surprised over it.”

“Yeah, I do—but I think we should wait for your dad to get over here first. Something tells me he’ll want to hear this too.”

Oh, right! We need to tell Dad about how _awesome_ we were defending our house! What with Sonic dashing and Yang punching and me being all ‘YAHOO!’ and ‘WAHOO!’ and all that! I mean, we were like straight out of one of those movies!

…I should, uh… probably try to leave out the part about getting blasted, though.

Something tells me he won’t like that.

* * *

**[Yang]**

**Patch – Xiao Long-Rose House**

Man, I’ll admit – that battle gave me quite the rush! There’s something to be said about how exciting fights can get, when you’re allowed to punch as hard as you can, and _really_ cut loose!

Sure, the enemies were just kind of… there, and we didn’t actually get to punch the boss up there, but at the very least I got my adrenaline pumping a bit!

Of course, then Ruby and I got these weird Scroll screens. Like, what _are_ they? They’re not connected to our own Scrolls or anything, and they kind of just pop up whenever we think about it? And they mention HP and SP and something about COOL points? I know what stuff like what HP and POW – they show up in a LOT of games nowadays, and for all the comments about me being a hothead, I’m not _that_ unintelligent – but what exactly are COOL points?

…well hopefully, we’ll be learning all that in just a bit.

We’re sitting back in our dining room – apparently Dad managed to take care of all the robots out back – and Dad looks like he has a lot of questions on his mind. I don’t blame him, this _is_ kind of crazy.

“So…” Dad began, one of his hands ruffling through his hair. “What are these Scroll screens about, and what are they doing to my daughters?”

Sonic and Tails had casually brought their own Scroll screens, looking the . “These ‘Scroll screens’ are basically telling you your daughters are video game protagonists now,” Sonic explained. We’re… video game protagonists now? That actually sounds pretty snazzy!

“Ohhhhhhh, that sounds AWESOME!” Ruby agreed with me.

“Video game protagonists?” Dad blinked in confusion. “…what does that mean?”

“It’s, like…” Sonic proceeded to explain to the three of us what exactly Ruby and I had gotten into, with Tails chiming in here and there. Huh, you know… I always thought it’d be _Tails_ who would be the explainer.

So, apparently now we’re protagonists of the ‘role-playing game’ variety – like, the type of games with all the numbers and the level ups and the move-learning (though I could’ve sworn RPGs were more turn-based in nature). And this new power somehow that makes us immune to whatever it was that robot tried to blast us with.

…yeah, I don’t get it either.

Of course, Dad didn’t exactly care about much of the specifics; just that we were safe. “Well… at least my daughters are safe from whatever that madman of yours is planning. That’s a relief,” Dad said. “So… what exactly does this mean for Ruby and Yang?”

Sonic opened his mouth to elaborate, but then he was interrupted by another screen appearing out of nowhere. The five of us turned to read its contents.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Party Members**

Throughout your journey, you’ll find plenty of people who are immune to Dr. Eggman’s frame-stealing and can also utilize the _Frames of Animation™_ engine. These people will be able to join you as **party members**.

Different party members can bring a whole host of new abilities to the table, be them combat or passive, to assist in your adventure. The more party members you have, the more versatile your party will be.

Each party member has their own set of equipment, unique abilities, Rank-Up Bonuses (we’ll get to those later), and combat styles. Try experimenting with each party member to see what works best for you!

**[OK]**

* * *

 

“…well, that serves as a pretty good explanation,” Tails noted. Under his breath, I heard Sonic mutter “ _That_ was convenient…”

“Soooo… Does that mean… we get to go on an adventure with you guys?” Ruby’s face lit up so hard I was afraid it’d fall off, and her body was vibrating all about with excitement. “Oh man, _this is the greatest day EVER!”_

To be fair… I can’t blame her. Ruby’s always been fascinated with the stories of Huntsmen and Huntresses; she wouldn’t pass up the chance to be a hero herself. I mean, that’s why she’s training to be a Huntress to begin with. (Me, I do it for other reasons, but that’s not the point.) It helps that she’s also a pretty good fan of Sonic to begin with – I can’t tell you how many Sonic games we have, seriously – and who wouldn’t want to travel with their favorite hero?

I don’t think she really understands what it’s _really_ like to be a hero, but I don’t really want to correct her about it yet. She’s still innocent, after all. And it’s my duty as her older sister to protect her.

I suppose, in a way, I should count myself lucky I got these powers too.

“Hey, I thought the day you got Uncle Qrow to start training you was the ‘greatest day ever’,” I teased, “and the day you finished building Crescent Rose.” What? Just because I’m her older sister doesn’t mean I can’t tease her here and there. “And don’t forget the time you—“

“Y-You know what I mean!” Ruby interrupted, blushing. “It’s just that today was even better than that day! I mean, we have Sonic and Tails here!” Heh, it’s still so fun to see her reactions. She’s just so adorable, you know?

Sonic laughed good-manneredly. “Aw, good to hear that you care about us.”

“In any case, I’m not certain about this whole ‘adventure’ thing,” Dad put in, steering us back on topic. “We’ve already seen how dangerous it can get, what with the attack today. We can’t be too certain if you’ll always get a lucky break.”

“Come on, Dad!” Ruby protested. “It won’t be too bad! We have Sonic and Tails on our side! What’s the worst that could happen?”

Dad looked uncomfortable. He looked like he wanted to say something. …it didn’t take me long to figure out what he was thinking about.

“Hey, Dad, it’s alright,” I said. “We’ve trained for this, and the two over there—“ I pointed a thumb to our resident visitors. “—have plenty of experience with this. Besides, we may be the only ones immune. Isn’t it our duty as Huntresses to deal with situations like these?”

Dad deadpanned, “Last I checked, the villains we deal with typically don’t turn people’s lives into video games. Or try to steal people’s ‘frames of animation’.” He sighed. “But… I know you two will just go through with this even if I say no.”

“You know us all too well!” I grinned.

“So, at the very least… just come back in one piece, alright?”

That was basically Dad-speak for ‘yes’. “We will!” I agreed.

With Dad’s approval, Ruby and I can finally go on an awesome adventure. Heck yeah! I knew becoming a Huntress was a great idea. (…even if this wasn’t the first thing I thought would happen.)

“Oh, this is going to be _awesome! Thanks, Dad!”_ Ruby dashed up to Dad and gave him a hug that I’m pretty sure would be bone-cracking in someone else’s hands. It was enough to make him stumble a little, though, but he didn’t waste any time returning to hug.

“…you’re welcome, Ruby.”

I decided to join in. “Hey, I want to join in too! GROUP HUG!” I declared with the biggest grin on my face, jumping right onto the two. And then we fell over. Right onto the ground.

“Oof!”

“Y-Yang!”

Dad groaned. “I’m getting too old for this…”

Sonic and Tails laughed in the background. “I think this adventure’s gonna be quite something,” Sonic stated.

“You said it, Sonic,” Tails responded.

* * *

  **Ruby and Yang have joined the party!**

* * *

**[QUEST CLEAR!]  
Starting Up From Remnants**

**[REWARDS]**  
20 EXP  
20 AP  
100 Rings

**[OK]**

* * *

 “…hey, we cleared our first quest, too!” Sonic noticed. “Yahoo!”

* * *

**[Ruby]**

Unfortunately, as much as I’d love to go out and start this adventure _that will be totally AMAZING!!!,_ Sonic said that we should stay home for a bit get used to all the systems we just got.

Hearing that come out of Sonic’s mouth was kind of weird. I mean, he _is_ the ‘Fastest Thing Alive’; he seemed like the type of guy to always be eager to be running outside. When I asked him about it, he told me: “Life’s no fun if you never stop and smell the roses. There’s no harm in slowing down every once in a while, you know?”

So here we are in our living room, our Wii U booting up on our TV screen. Tails and Yang were seated on the couch, a Wii Remote and Nunchuk in their hands. Me and Sonic were hanging behind the couch, watching from behind. “Man, these televisions of yours are pretty cool! They look so compact and efficient,” Tails complimented, looking absolutely fascinated. “We’re still using normal HDTVs back home.”

“Wait, really?” Yang blinked in shock. “You have flying cars and space travel! How can you not have holographic TVs?”

“That kind of technology’s kind of expensive, and pretty hard to figure out, even for people like me. Plus, uprooting the TV market wouldn’t be a very wise idea, especially since we’re still recovering from Eggman’s last attack.”

“Oh, right! You guys went through _Sonic Forces_ ,” Yang remembered, snapping her fingers.

I remembered Sonic Forces. It had so much potential. It was also pretty weird. Like, what was with the reusing of Green Hill and Chemical Plant? That’s like trying to make a new weapon solely out of parts from those of other people’s.

“Say, what was Infinite like, anyway?” I asked.

“Hilarious,” Sonic interjected. “He was trying so hard to be edgy it was embarrassing. Sure, he had the power of the Phantom Ruby, but his personality left a lot to be desired. As Shadow put it, he is ‘but a mewling kitten’ and a ‘cute ball of fluff’.”

“Pfft. Cute ball of fluff?” Yang snickered. “Oh, that’s golden. That must’ve gave him… _infinite_ burns, eh? Eh?”

“Oh, that’s a good one!” Sonic replied, much to my exasperation.

“Ughhhhhh, no it isn’t,” I complained. Great, the punitude is spreading! This is terrible!

In an attempt to ignore the terrible puns, I decided to open up my menu. Maybe there’s something there I can put my mind to instead.

* * *

** Main Menu **

**Location:** Patch – Xiao-Long Rose House  
**Play Time:** 3 Chapters  
**Rings:** 495

**[Items] [Gear] [Abilities] [Party]  
[Quests] [Memory Files] [Config] [Map]**

* * *

“…hey, what’s this ‘3 Chapters’ thing?” I noticed, peering closely at the Play Time listed. “Shouldn’t it say hours and minutes or something?”

Sonic blinked. “…oh, that’s, uhhhh…” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m not entirely sure myself. It might be counting all the important time periods where events happen, or something. It’s probably best to ignore it.”

Well, if he said so. There are so many buttons here to try out! Out of curiosity, I tapped a few of the buttons – starting with the **[Items]** button.

* * *

** Items **

**[All] /** [HP Items] / [SP Items] / [Materials] / [Overworld] / [Battle Misc.]  
[Key Items]

Page 1 of 1  
**[Ring Monitor** _(E-Rank)_ **] x3  
[Green Material]** **x3**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

“Huh, there’s not a lot of items here,” I noted.

“Well, we only _have_ just begun,” Sonic said. “It’s not like we’ll have everything from the beginning.”

“I thought you would’ve prepared some stuff from your world first?”

“Eh, would’ve taken too much time. Besides, there’s nothing we can’t do so long as we’re together!”

* * *

** Gear **

[Sonic] / [Tails] / **[Ruby]** / [Yang]

 **[Boots]** Trusty Shoes  
A pair of boots that will stick by you through thick and thin, no matter what.  
_(POW +2)_

 **[Weapon]** Crescent Rose  
A high-caliber sniper-scythe, created exclusively by Ruby.  
_(POW +14, SPD +6)_

 **[Outfit]** Reaper’s Outfit  
A black-and-red outfit fit for a Huntress, complete with a combat skirt.  
_(DEF +3)_

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

Sonic whistled. “Gee, that boost from your weapon’s pretty good. Fourteen POW points is nothing to sneeze at.” He read the description carefully. “You made it?”

“Of course!” Ah, I still remember when I was making my baby a few years back. All that time studying schematics and materials, and the day it all came together. “Everyone at Signal Academy makes their own weapons. I… may have gone a little overboard, though.”

“Overboard’s cutting it a little short, methinks. Still, it’s pretty impressive.”

“Heh heh… Thanks!” I could feel my face blushing red with appreciation. Sonic the Hedgehog likes my weapon! Oh, what a time to be alive!

“Maybe you and Tails could team up to make a weapon for me,” he mused. “I’m good with my fists and feet and all, but I’ve always wanted to wield a sword again.”

“I’d be glad to do so!” I exclaimed happily. Oh, I’m already dreaming of the possibilities! I could have it look like Caliburn (I always liked _Black Knight._ Hey, say what you want, those swords are so cool-looking!), except it can turn into a _gun!_

…what?

Guns automatically make weapons better. It’s a fact of life!

It didn’t take us too long to go through **[Party]** and **[Quests]** – we already got a look at all our party’s stats, and **[Quests]** didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know: go beat up Eggman. Really, it’s that simple!

Next, we went through my Passive Abilities.

 **[Silver Eyes] LOCKED  
** They say that those with silver eyes are destined to be the greatest of warriors.

…wha? **[Silver Eyes]**?

“That’s... pretty vague,” Sonic noticed. “It sounds like it’s important, too.”

…Dad and Uncle Qrow’s always told me about how I share the same eye color as Mom.

Could… could this be related to that?

And why is it locked, anyway?

…hopefully, it won’t be anything _too_ bad…

 **[Weapon Scan] Lv. MAX  
** You’re a weapons geek, through and through! You have the ability to thoroughly analyze others’ weapons and see how they tick – and even discover what special abilities they might have!

“ **Level MAX**? Gee, they’re not kidding with that description.”

“Of course! Weapons are a practically a part of us on Remnant. They’re just so fascinating!”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Sonic chuckled. “No need to be like Tails now.”

 **[Weapon Handling] Lv. 1**  
Depending on what materials you have on hand, you can improve the stats of your weapon-based equipment. The higher the ability’s levels, the better the upgrades will be!  
_( **Lv. 1** allows basic modification abilities.)_

“Awwwww… Only **Level 1**?” I pouted. I’m a master of weaponry! That’s how I made Crescent Rose to begin with! They can’t just put it at Level 1; it should be Level MAX like my **[Weapon Scan]** ability!

“Hey, look on the bright side!” Sonic assured me. “You’ve got something none of the rest of us have! It’ll still be helpful!”

“Y-You really think that?” I asked, eyes shining.

“Of course! Besides, we can always figure out a way to upgrade it later.”

By now, Yang and Tails were in the middle of a Smash match, but had since paused and turned to look at the menu I had opened. Yang whistled. “Dang, Rubes! This game really knows you well. They got the whole obsession over weapons thing correct!”

 _“Yanggggggg!”_ I whined. Come on, that was the first thing she noticed!?

The two of them looked at my first ability listed. “ **[Silver Eyes]**?” Yang read. “What’s that all about? I know your eye color’s pretty weird—“ So says the one with purple and red eyes herself! “—but why is that listed here?”

Tails shrugged. “Plot MacGuffin? Chekhov’s Gun? Who knows? Maybe it’s something post-game we have to unlock.”

Sonic raised an eyebrow. “Will we even _have_ a post-game to play in the first place? Our life may be a video game, but I don’t think it extends that far.”

“I’m not complaining!” Yang chimed in. “Just means that they’ll be more adventure to go on.” Then she thought of something. “Hey, since we’re all looking at our abilities, what’s mine look like?”

I flipped the tab to Yang’s. Hilariously enough, there was only one thing listed.

 **[Damage Absorb] Lv. 1  
** Your Semblance allows you to absorb a portion of the energy from every blow you take to power yourself up and dish it back. The higher the level, the more power you’ll intake each hit.

Just her Semblance.

Well, I can’t say she uses a lot other than that, anyway.

“Hey, why is my Semblance the only thing listed?” Yang complained.

“Maybe it’s because it’s the only thing you ever use?” I deadpanned.

“Oh come on, I have a lot more than that! What about Bumblebee? Shouldn’t that count?”

Sonic blinked. “Bumblebee?”

“It’s my motorcycle,” Yang explained. “It’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself.”

Tails smiled. “Neat! Hey Sonic, maybe you should try riding it yourself.”

“Eh, maybe,” Sonic said. “I’ve always preferred regular cars to cycles. Doesn’t seem to stop Shadow from using them more though.”

Next, we looked at the **[Memory Files]** section – which was a pretty weird name. All the other names made sense, but what could these possibly be?

* * *

** Memory Files **

***[Story]***  
*[Glossary]*  
[Game Records]  
*[Character Files]*  
*[Enemies]*  
[Synthesis]  
[Collectibles]  
*[Achievements]*  
[Tutorials]

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Memory Files**

As your adventure progresses, you’ll likely want to read up on all you’ve encountered (and maybe have yet to encounter). This is what the **Memory Files** are for.

Memory Files that keep track of the story as it occurs and also archives information about characters, enemies, game records, and miscellaneous. It can be a handy way of keeping track of your completion rate, for those players who care about 100%-ing the game.

If you ever want to catch up on something, try looking into the Memory Files!

_( ***** will indicate new information added to a category.)_

**[OK]**

* * *

“Oh, so it’s a virtual diary!” Yang commented. “Or a school textbook.”

I groaned. “Greaaaaaaat, we have homework to read. I thought the point of going on adventures was to _avoid_ stuff like this.”

“It’s not like we _have_ to read it now,” Tails told us, “or even at all. It’s just something there, as a ‘just in case’ thing.”

“I’m more interested in the **[Achievements]** myself,” Sonic said. “They’re always fun to try and get.”

“Blegh, I’ve never really cared for them,” I admitted. “I don’t really see much point in them.” Still, I decided to see what was in the sub-menu.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Achievements**

Nowadays, every game has **achievements** for you to unlock and brag about, and _Frames of Animation™_ is no exception. Luckily, we’ve taken a few cues from Nintendo, and getting achievements will net you **extra prizes.**

Several of our achievements are locked and hidden until you receive them, but some may let you know when you’re on track to unlocking them. Always keep an eye out!

**[OK]**

* * *

**[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED]  
We All Have to Start From Somewhere**

Clear the Prologue chapter.

 **[REWARDS]  
** 20 AP

**[OK]**

* * *

** Achievements **

**[Story]** / [Combat] / [Special]

Page 1  
[We All Have to Start From Somewhere]  
[???]  
[???]  
[???]  
[???]  
[???]  
[???]  
[???]  
[???]  
[???]

**[Back] [Next]**

**[Back to Memory Files]**

* * *

“Wow, there’s a LOT of achievements here!” I was amazed, despite myself. And _all_ of these have rewards for them? There’s so much stuff that we can get! Maybe I can get more upgrades for Crescent Rose!

“There’s three categories, too,” Sonic noted. “I remember Mario had something like that – a bunch of achievements separated into three categories. Though, I don’t think he had story achievements to worry about.”

We looked through several of the other categories, but they were all conspicuously filled with hidden achievements. Gee, that’s a lot of hidden ones! They usually show most, if not all of the achievements on games for the PS4. I wonder what’s changed here?

Backing out of the **[Memory Files]** menu, we decided to take a look at the **[Config]** menu before we stopped.

* * *

** Config **

Difficulty: **[Experienced]**  
Tutorials: **[ON]** / [OFF]  
Message Prompts: **[ON]** / [OFF]  
Action Commands: **[ON]** / [OFF]  
EXP Gain: **[ON]** / [OFF]

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

There was… not a lot here. Like, at all.

“Gee, this looks pretty empty,” Yang commented. “PC games have so many options and settings, so seeing this is kind of… weird.”

“It’s probably because this is real life too, not just a video game,” Tails theorized. “Maybe that’s why there’s no stuff like Axis Sensitivity and Vibration in here.”

“…wait!” I just realized something. “Why is our difficulty set on **[Experienced]**???”

“I… have no idea. When these windows started showing up, it just told us ‘we’ve opted to play on Experienced’ and didn’t bother with an explanation past that.”

I tapped the difficulty button to read up more on it.

**[DIFFICULTY]  
Experienced**

For those who have played plenty of other RPGs before. Your party has a normal damage output, enemies have a slightly higher damage output, and some tutorials are skipped over.

Difficulties cannot be changed during a playthrough.

**[OK]**

“Enemies have a slightly higher damage output?” Sonic read. “Well, that explains a lot. That Heavy Gunner hit like a tank!”

“Hey, I thought this was supposed to be fair!” I said. “Why do the enemies get an advantage over us?”

“I blame Eggman for that. The way he kickstarted our systems probably let a glitch through, or something. I wouldn’t be surprised; our universe can get pretty glitchy sometimes.”

I blinked. “Glitchy? You mean, like Sonic ‘06?”

Sonic shuddered. “Y-Yeah, you could put it that way. Dang, I hope this game is more polished…”

“I don’t really mind,” Yang remarked, “the whole difficulty thing, I mean. If anything, it’ll just make fights more interesting!”

“Oh, I like the way you think!” Sonic grinned. “Just because Eggman’s tougher doesn’t mean we won’t be able to take him down like before!”

And with that, we’d basically seen most of the menu, and the way it’d be used throughout our journey. We can see our collection of items, change our gear as we go, upgrade our abilities, unlock achievements, et cetera. It was pretty cool!

“Man, all this is getting me pumped for the adventure we’re going to be going on!” I whooped. “Ohhhhhhh, I just want to go out there and slice some robot limbs off!”

“Calm down there, Rubes!” Yang chided me. “You’ll get a chance to do just that. But first, we’ve got a Smash match to finish!”

“That’s right!” Tails remembered. “Heh, I still haven’t gotten done beating your butt yet!”

“Oh, sorry, you think you can beat my butt?” Yang retorted, a grin on her lips. “I’ve beaten Ruby at every fighting game we have for years!” (“It’s true,” I grumbled. Someday, I _will_ beat her… as soon as I start training. Sometime.) “I’m not gonna let a loss penetrate my winning streak now!”

Sonic hopped over the couch and landed right next to Tails. “Oh, this is going to be good. Go get ‘er, Tails!”

“Yeah!” I chimed in, throwing my two cents in. “Beat up Yang for me!”

“Ruby!” Yang dramatically gasped, putting a hand to her heart. “How could you betray your older sister like that? Such shame!”

“Well, maybe you should’ve let me win a few times!” Sure, this was childish, but how else would I be getting the best revenge? This will be the fastest way to win! Sure, it’ll be by proxy, but who cares? It’s still technically beating Yang!

Man, is this adventure going to be great! Again, it’s Sonic and Tails – two of my favorite fictional characters of all time! They proved that video games are real! And who knows what else we’ll be seeing as we go? It’s just _so exciting! And we’ll be there!_

_Ohhhhhhh, I can’t wait!_

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

“Patching In These Colorful Hills”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this took a LOT longer than it should have. Part of that is because I was working on **_A Goddess in Reality_** (one of my Persona works) in the interim, and the other part is just a bit of writer’s block in determining where this chapter was going to go. After I wrote the battle and the aftermath, I found out I was 2k words short of my general 8,000 word limit, so I found myself having to write a bit of filler in.
> 
> Thus, Ruby and Sonic explore the menu! It’s a good excuse to see some of the elements of this ‘game’ that will be very prominent (or at least, will be showing up a lot) in the future. Items, gear, and even a showcase of some of Ruby and Yang’s passive abilities. Of course, I also had to add in a bit about Ruby’s **Silver Eyes** – and you fans of _RWBY_ should know exactly what that’s all about.
> 
> The Kingdom Hearts influence starts to show a bit in the **[Memory Files]** and the **[Config]** menus – _Kingdom Hearts_ games typically feature both types of sub-menus in their games, and I’ve always appreciated how you’re allowed to look back, read up on enemy documents, et cetera. It’s something I think more RPGs in general need to have. I mean, what if you have barely an idea what’s going on? Reading up on the story as the game itself tells it can be pretty helpful then.
> 
> I would’ve loved to have the Config menu feature a little more ‘options’ to pick from, but of course, most Config stuff has to with things like camera and control options, so I was a bit limited on what I could really put on there. Oh well, it’s not like the _Mario & Luigi_ series really has much of a Config menu anyway.
> 
> I hope the last section of this chapter is somewhat engaging enough for you to ignore the whole ‘filler’ aspect of it – and I can assure you that the next few chapters will be going to some interesting places.
> 
> Moving to a different topic, this chapter’s battle sequence! It may feel a little too reminiscent of the first chapter’s fight, but that’ll be the last sequence to be doing that. After all, we are still in the introduction portions of this story – so you can forgive me a bit for still getting things up and ready.
> 
> I hope I got Ruby and Yang’s combat skills and strategies are relatively down pat, as well as the fight against these Badniks in general. The first-person narration was pretty fun to do, if I’m honest, and Ruby’s **Big Damn Heroes** moment was much the same. Oh yeah, Sonic, appreciate the sniper-scythe in all its glory.
> 
> I also had to write in a way to get Ruby and Yang properly into the party, so forgive me if the conversation with Taiyang feels a bit rushed (and hopefully it won’t be that way, but I gotta stay realistic now). But on the other hand, GROUP HUG!
> 
> And as for AP... you'll find out what they do eventually.
> 
> Next time on **_Frames of Animation,_** the burgeoning Crash Crew starts hunting down information on Dr. Eggman’s plans. Tune in next time for then!


	4. Patching In These Colorful Hills, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our cast of characters officially set out on their multiversal journey! There's quite a lot of things to learn about their systems along the way, though.

**_Last time…_ **

_And with that, we’d basically seen most of the menu, and the way it’d be used throughout our journey. We can see our collection of items, change our gear as we go, upgrade our abilities, unlock achievements, et cetera. It was pretty cool!_

_“Man, all this is getting me pumped for the adventure we’re going to be going on!” I whooped. “Ohhhhhhh, I just want to go out there and slice some robot limbs off!”_

_“Calm down there, Rubes!” Yang chided me. “You’ll get a chance to do just that. But first, we’ve got a Smash match to finish!”_

_“That’s right!” Tails remembered. “Heh, I still haven’t gotten done beating your butt yet!”_

_“Oh, sorry, you think you can beat my butt?” Yang retorted, a grin on her lips. “I’ve beaten Ruby at every fighting game we have for years!” (“It’s true,” I grumbled. Someday, I will beat her… as soon as I start training. Sometime.) “I’m not gonna let a loss penetrate my winning streak now!”_

_Sonic hopped over the couch and landed right next to Tails. “Oh, this is going to be good. Go get ‘er, Tails!”_

_“Yeah!” I chimed in, throwing my two cents in. “Beat up Yang for me!”_

_“Ruby!” Yang dramatically gasped, putting a hand to her heart. “How could you betray your older sister like that? Such shame!”_

_“Well, maybe you should’ve let me win a few times!” Sure, this was childish, but how else would I be getting the best revenge? This will be the fastest way to win! Sure, it’ll be by proxy, but who cares? It’s still technically beating Yang!_

_Man, is this adventure going to be great! Again, it’s Sonic and Tails – two of my favorite fictional characters of all time! They proved that video games are real! And who knows what else we’ll be seeing as we go? It’s just so exciting! And we’ll be there!_

_Ohhhhhhh, I can’t wait!_

* * *

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

**[Tails]**

**Patch – Xiao Long-Rose House**

It’s a bright and sunny day (though not necessarily windy), and light was very much streaking through the windows of our current room. On any other (non-adventure) day, I’d be either up in my workshop developing some new machines or rolling around at the speed of sound alongside Sonic.

Today was one of the rare days where I slept in, much like what Sonic usually does. Last night, Yang and I went through a _Smash 4_ marathon (Surprisingly, they also had all the DLC! And as usual, Bayonetta is very, _very_ OP), and it was quite a fun time. Later on, Ruby and Sonic joined in, and our matches got even more exhilarating.

Of course, we had fun riffing on Smash Tour too. Even Sonic admits, that mode was a bit of a mess. Like, what was even going on there???

Afterward, Taiyang was gracious enough to let me and Sonic sleep in their guest bedroom. There was only one bed, but Sonic didn’t mind using a sleeping bag. Whenever we go on adventures, there’s never a certainty that we’ll always have a warm bed, especially considering how mobile Sonic likes to be.

Thus, sleeping bags! Sonic and I both carry a single one at all times; hammerspace is pretty dang useful in carrying large loads. You have no idea how many times I’ve used it in the past to get around carrying them manually… though admittedly there _are_ limits.

…and now I just realized we’re going to need a LOT more sleeping bags on this trip, if we’re going to be world-hopping so much and gathering so many party members. And we only have so many Rings on us, too.

Hopefully enemies can drop a lot of material, otherwise we’re gonna end up doing a lot of sleeping bag trading.

Which I’m pretty sure Sonic won’t mind, seeing as how half the time he sleeps in tree branches (I think it has something to do with his appeal for nature), but it’s the principle of the matter, you know?

Wow, I’ve rambled on for quite some time! I’m not even talking about technology this time, either. I should really get to waking Sonic up.

I hopped out of bed, and walked over to Sonic’s sleeping bag. He was sleeping as sound as a rock. “Hey, Sonic,” I called quietly. “It’s time to wake up! We’ve got a lot to do today.”

Sonic groaned. “Five more minutes,” he grumbled, shifting around to try and block out the sun.

Heh, just look at him. He wakes up as he pleases, much like how he runs. The only thing that gets him up immediately is if a crisis is happening – like say, Eggman attacking for the twelfth time this year.

And then Ruby crashed open the door, whistling loudly into a… well, whistle. She exclaimed “GOOOOOD MORNING, GUYS!” at practically the top of her lungs. Admittedly, I got a kick out of Sonic yelping and sitting up at rapid speeds. His eye were now wide awake and darting about, before landing on Ruby’s ecstatic face.

“Jeez,” he said, an exhausted expression overtaking his features. “Did you have to shout louder than a jump scare?”

“Sorry!” Ruby apologized, rubbing the back of her head. “It’s just habit at this point. Sometimes Yang doesn’t want to wake up, so I’ve gotten used to having this whistle by me.”

“That’s pretty resourceful of you,” I praised.

“Thanks! Dad always says Huntsmen and Huntresses should always be prepared for anything, so I’m just getting a head start!”

Before we went to bed, I remember Taiyang giving me and Sonic a primer on what **Huntsmen and Huntresses** do on Remnant. You know, what he was going to tell us before we were very rudely interrupted by the Heavy Gunner.

Though to be fair, we got a pretty good idea from Ruby and Yang bringing out their weapons yesterday.

Reportedly, this world isn’t a very kind one – all about the world are the **Creatures of** **Grimm** , weird skeletal monsters that ravage the word wherever there is negativity. Yeah, that concept doesn’t sound vaguely familiar at all (Heartless, anyone?), though they seem far more dangerous than the latter. (…hopefully, we don’t encounter too many while we’re here on Remnant.)

Huntsmen and Huntresses serve as warriors to uphold the peace and vanquish the Grimm, and often take on specialized missions for employment. And I don’t have much in the way of judging what Huntsmen and Huntresses are all about, but if Ruby and Yang are any indication, they’re as badass as us!

Sonic got up out of his sleeping bag, quickly packing it back into his hammerspace. “Well, I suppose I _have_ slept long enough.”

Ruby’s eyes went wide. “Wow! W-Where’d your sleeping bag go?”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s in our **hammerspace** now,” Sonic explained. “It’s, uh, where us video game protagonists hold most of their items and weapons and things like that.”

“I-I thought that was just something that was… just a video game thing! I didn’t think it’d extend to outside them, too!”

“Well, now you know,” Sonic said, shrugging. “Hmm, I should do this more often… Hey, Tails!” he directed his attention toward me. “How large of an object do you think we can hold now?”

That’s a good question. I remember Mario just tossing out a giant cake while digging through his own hammerspace (he said he gotten during a ‘Sticker Star’, which something tells me I don’t want to know about). We’ve never really been able to bring out big guns like that, but maybe now we can.

“That’d require some experimenting,” I explained carefully, “and finding objects big enough to test them out on, but theoretically I believe it would be possible.”

“Ooooooooooh…” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ruby drooling at the possibilities. “I could carry so many different types of accessories for Crescent Rose…” Right, that was her weapon, that crazy sniper-scythe. I suppose weapons _would_ have to be a little customizable in this world, in order to keep them strong enough to fight against the Heartle—I mean, the Grimm.

Now that I’m thinking about it… One of Ruby’s abilities was **[Weapon Handling]**. I wonder… If we combined that with my **[Technician]** ability, just what type of equipment could we create out of it? We could upgrade things like my Energy Ball Cannon to be stronger!

Hopefully, we’ll get a tutorial for that soon.

“Well, that’s enough of that,” Sonic cut in. “So, what’s for breakfast? I’m starving!”

* * *

For breakfast, we had this cereal called ‘Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes’ (Jeez, that’s a rather lengthy name). It had some redheaded girl’s face on it, too – Yang told us it was some tournament winner named Pyrrha Nikos. A rather interesting feat, though it doesn’t beat Mario getting his own cereal again after so many years.

Sonic actually tried Mario’s cereal once – and he admitted it actually wasn’t half-bad. _“Now I wish I had my own cereal,”_ he had joked at the time. I wonder what goes into making cereal to begin with. I could make Sonic his own cereal, call it ‘Blue Blur Flakes’ or something.

After our little breakfast session, it was time for our journey to continue! We couldn’t spend all our time just relaxing after all, especially considering how multiversal Eggman’s plan was this time. As we were gearing up to go, another quest prompt popped up.

* * *

**[STORY QUEST]**  
**Information Gathering**

Quite a few things have happened since yesterday – you’ve discovered Eggman’s forces _are_ out and about, and you’ve also gotten two new party members. With them, perhaps you can **track down even more information** from the villagers at Patch.

 **[REQUIREMENTS]**  
Gather information about Eggman and his actions.

 **[REWARDS]**  
30 AP  
200 Rings

**[OK]**

* * *

“This’ll be easy!” Ruby cheered as we got rid of the pop-up. “Me and Yang know our neighbors pretty well, so we shouldn’t have too much trouble finding information!”

“That’s half our work done for us, then!” Sonic remarked. “I betcha they’ll be a bunch more tutorials for us while we’re there, just to fill in the time.”

“What else would we need to learn?” Yang asked. “I mean, we’re already proficient enough in fighting.” Methinks she doesn’t play a lot of games with constant tutorials peppering the midgame. (Heavens knows Mario and Luigi were getting tired of that.)

“Like we said before, our adventure is based much more on traditional RPGs, and those usually introduce a lot of tutorials for their complex systems,” I explained for her. “You know, building things slow and steady in order to gradually get their players used to handling them all. It’s not much of a stretch to think the same thing will apply here.”

“Huh, I never saw it that way. I usually play games that just get right to the point.” Well, that wasn’t surprising, to be honest. Call it stereotypical, but it definitely suits her as a berserker-type fighter.

“I’m not surprised,” Sonic deadpanned. “Knuckles is very much the same.”

I remember the time after we first met Knuckles. After we had finally established ourselves as definite heroes in his eyes, the two of us tried to reacquaint him into society, since he was living on Angel Island alone for so long. It took us a long while to get him to figure out just how _controllers_ work.

Of course, nowadays he’s got things down pat, but man! That time was practically nightmarish.

“Ooh, sounds like we’re kindred spirits!” Yang said, grinning. “Do you know if he takes matches with others?”

It didn’t take me long to figure out what she was asking. “He should be currently acting as Commander right now,” I stated, “but I know him well, and he’ll definitely be accepting.”

“Yes!” Yang pumped her fist in excitement.

“How did he become Commander again?” Ruby asked. “I mean, he doesn’t seem like the smartest guy around. It’s like putting a kid in charge of almost adults.”

“I’m too much of a free spirit to be the leader of a faction,” Sonic said. “Just Team Sonic’s fine with me. Tails also enjoys tinkering with his inventions too much, so he’s not really built to be a leader either.”

“It’s true,” I admitted. “I’m much more useful building things only I can build.”

“Knuckles has grown a lot since 1994, and being the last member of our little Power Trio, he was a good candidate for the position. And he _was_ a good Commander, I’ll admit! …just don’t tell him that, it’ll get to his head.” So says the one with a huge ego himself.

“It didn’t look that way in _Forces…_ ” Ruby said.

“ _Forces_ didn’t exactly happened as Sonic Team wrote it, take it from me. But enough about strange continuity!” Sonic pointed toward the front door. “Let’s go adventuring!”

“Yeah, let’s get to saving Remnant and everyone!” Yang cheered, pumping a fist into the air. The two of them looked triumphantly ready for this adventure, and it was quite the sight to behold! It got me and Ruby excited as well, enough for us to strike our own cool poses, too.

“Woot! Goooooooo, Team Awesome!” Ruby declared.

And then Taiyang ruined the moment. “Don’t forget to watch out for strangers, girls!” his voice echoed, plucking the cool atmosphere right out of the air.

 _“Yes, Dad,”_ Ruby and Yang groaned.

* * *

**[Ruby]**

**Patch – Village Path**

Did Dad _have_ to interrupt us like that? We looked so cool, but then he went and did a Dad thing! It was so… _Dad!_ Ugh…

…well, enough about that! We’re off beginning our adventure for real!

It’s… not the most glamorous beginning, admittedly… I mean, we’re just walking our usual path down to the village… but it’s still exciting in its own way! I was so excited, in fact, I was even skipping!

“Man, Rubes, you’re just full of energy today,” Yang noticed. “C’mon, I know this is a great opportunity, but we’ve barely started.”

“I can’t help it!” I said. “I just can’t stop thinking about how AWESOME this will be!”

“I think I’ve heard that word more times in the last twenty-four hours than in the last six months,” Tails commented. Really? Have I really been saying it that much? “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so hyperactive before… except maybe Charmy.”

Sonic chuckled. “I dunno, I think it’s kind of endearing,” he said. “She’s a lot like those cute anime girls that keep popping up everywhere.” Ooooooooh, Sonic thinks I’m a cute anime girl! I _knew_ drinking so much milk would be good for something!

“A cute anime girl, eh?” Yang teased. “I didn’t know you watched anime.”

“Eh, I’m the mascot of a Japanese company,” Sonic dismissed. “It’d be weird if I _didn’t,_ especially considering how much inspiration my ‘verse takes from anime. I know Shadow does, anyway.”

I blinked. “Shadow watches anime?”

“Yeah. Turns out he’s secretly a weeaboo. Can you believe it?” My mind immediately wandered, coming up with the image of Shadow the Hedgehog sitting in front of a TV, rooting for something like Dragon Ball Z.

My mind promptly short-circuited. That kind of scene seemed… so impossible. Next to me, Yang echoed my thoughts. “No, I actually can’t,” she replied. “It’s just… He seems like such an—an _edgelord,_ and watching anime just… doesn’t fit into that archetype.”

“Which is why it’s fun to tease him over it,” Tails stated, a Sonic-esque smile on his face. “Who could resist? I know Rouge does it all the time.”

Our conversation was soon interrupted by some bushes ruffling. Instinctively, me and Yang dropped into a combat stance, while Sonic and Tails just raised their eyebrows. “Who’s there?” Yang asked, her eyes narrowing.

The ruffling continued for a little bit, and then abruptly went silent. Then, from out the bushes, came…

…a cute little bunny! “Awwwwwwwww!” I cooed outwardly, looking at ‘em sniffing around. “It’s a little bunny!”

“Huh, I guess we were just… too hopped up over it, whaddya think?” Yang joked. Sonic sniggered in response – sure, treat it as an actual good joke – before the sound of more ruffling filled the air.

“There’s more?” Tails wondered, and before any of us could say another word, a bunch of Eggman robots burst out of the bushes! And they were heading straight toward the poor bunny!

 **Motobug (Lv. 1)  
HP:** 18/18, **FP:** 10/10

“Oh no, you don’t!” I pulled out Crescent Rose and unfurled it into its scythe form, before dashing straight toward the horde of Badniks. With a single swipe, I sent the Badnik flying away from the bunny.

Hah! That’s what you get when you try to harass a simple, innocent animal!

I heard Sonic’s voice cry, “Hey, don’t leave us outta the fun!” He leaped into the fight, landing a foot on one of the other Motobugs and kicking it away. “Fighting Badniks is always more fun together than alone.” I looked over Sonic’s shoulder, seeing Tails and Yang getting into the fight themselves, Yang having quickly equipped her Ember Celica. “Besides,” Snoic continued, “these ones have FP to worry about!”

While we were playing Smash last night, Sonic and Tails brought up the whole ‘Frame Points’ thing, and how they can enhance the capabilities of any Badnik. Luckily, there was a way to get rid of them; heck, Sonic and Tails had already done it before! But we couldn’t exactly get any practice in, seeing as how there was no enemy to practice on.

I got the gist of it, though! Do a bunch of Aura stuff in your hand, punch an enemy, and then do the thing when you feel a thing and BOOM! You get to do a thing!

…okay, maybe they didn’t explain it like that, but that’s basically how it works!

“Right, FP!” I stated aloud. “The ‘Frames of Animation’ thing.”

“That’s the one. You remember the tutorial about **Frame Draining** we gave you two last night, right?” Sonic asked.

I nodded. “Of course! I can read, you know; I’m not like Yang.” (Yang appropriately retorted a “Hey, you take that back!” in response.)

“Give it a shot, then! It should be easy to get the hang of, and something tells me we’ll be doing it a lot.” I eyed the Motobug I had knocked over, watching as it slowly got back up while it narrowed its eyes at me. ‘Easy to get the hang of,’ huh?

Luckily, Uncle Qrow (and the rest of my teachers at Signal) were _very_ thorough when it came to primers on Aura, so I figured that the same principles would apply. The tutorial I read seemed like it ran like that – I mean, it specifically said to ‘will a **Command Prompt** to start up’ – so this should be a snap! Hopefully.

As I’ve been taught before, I willed my Aura to appear around my hand – it’s not something I do a lot, seeing as how I usually put my Aura toward my Semblance, but I know how to – but instead of the telltale glow of Aura, a bunch of strange green squares appeared instead. “Ehhhhh?” I yelped, letting my eyes glow wide.

“Don’t worry, that’s normal!” Sonic said. “Just go and slam the thing into the Motobug before it can attack!”

I nodded, and rushed straight toward the Motobug, looking all dramatic and ready for action! But before I could finish, I felt my legs stumble over each other. “W-Wah!?” And then I tripped, and then I fell, and I sailed straight over the Badnik and fell flat on my face.

Out of the corner of my eye, Sonic grimaced. “…ooh. Uhh, you alright, Rubes?” he called out to me.

“Yes!” I muffled. “I’m alright. Kinda.”

Well, I can still fight, but that didn’t do any wonders for my dignity. This is just great. I tripped right in front of Sonic. In the middle of battle. Off of basically nothing.

I blame Sakurai for this.

“You sure took a vacation _trip_ there, huh Ruby?” Yang’s voice cheerfully echoed from afar.

“Not now, Yang,” I groaned. She’s never gonna stop punning, is she? I got back up only to be greeted by the sight of the Motobug actually… _laughing!_ Was… Was it mocking me? That’s so rude!

“Hey, don’t you laugh at me now!” I complained, pouting at the enemy. It’s a Badnik! It’s not supposed to mock us! With the glitches still hanging over my hand, I finally managed to punch the enemy. I let it hang for a bit before I felt something run through me (one of those **Action Commands** , I think), and then I released it.

…a little too early, though, judging by the **‘GREAT!’** that appeared in my vision. I heard Sonic say an **‘EXCELLENT!’** was the best one you can get, so I guess I still have a ways to go.

But hey, I drained enough FP from the Motobug!

 **Motobug (Lv. 1)  
HP:** 18/18, **FP:** 0/10

I even felt a little power-up from the attack! Oooooh, I could get used to this feeling! “Man, I feel _great!”_ I exclaimed, feeling my limbs shaking a little.

“You’re doing great!” Sonic told me, sitting on top of his own defeated Motobug. “Try using an attack on the Badnik now!”

The Motobug seemed dizzy, spinning around as if its sense of direction had disappeared. Grasping Crescent Rose hard, I jumped up and vertically sliced it. Immediately, a cloud of smoke appeared, indicating that the Badnik had been instantly destroyed. “Wow!” I said aloud. “I-I didn’t expect it to die _that_ easily!”

Sonic raised an eyebrow. “Eh, it probably has something to do with your scythe’s POW boost,” he guessed. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that Eggman never expected us to have +14 more POW than usual.”

Crescent Rose did all that? Mmm, going overboard on my baby was a great idea!

And it’s only gonna get better, too!

“Well, enough tutorial stuff!” Sonic hopped off the Motobug, landing by my side. “How ‘bout we take care of the rest of these Motobugs?”

“You said it!” Together, the two of us handled the rest of these Badniks like a charm, considering all of us are Level 3 and these guys are just Level 1. I tried utilizing the **Frame Drain** technique a few more times too, but I only got **‘GOOD’s’** and **‘GREAT’s’** out of it for now. These Action Commands are trickier than they look!

Tails and Yang weren’t actually doing that bad, either! But when your enemies are a bunch of basic Badniks, I suppose anyone could do good against them. Not much to be heroic over, admittedly.

Eventually, the band of Motobugs were down, and we got another victory screen!

** VICTORY! **

**EXP Earned:** 20 **_(LEVEL UP!)_**  
**Rings Earned:** 40

 **Items:** Green Material **x2**

**[OK]**

And hey, Sonic and Tails even got a level up out of it! I kind of wish me and Yang got one too, but I suppose we _did_ just get started on this quest.

* * *

**Sonic the Hedgehog**  
**Level 4 (E-Rank)**  
_The Fastest Thing Alive_

 **HP:** 28/28 (+1)  
**SP:** 19/19 (+2)  
**POW:** 22 (+1)  
**DEF:** 24 (+1)  
**SPEED:** 65 (+2)  
**COOL:** 33 (+1)

 **EXP:** 121/320  
**To Next Level:** 199

* * *

**Miles “Tails” Prower**  
**Level 4 (E-Rank)**  
_The Two-Tailed Technician_

 **HP:** 34/34 (+1)  
**SP:** 18/18 (+3)  
**POW:** 29 (+1)  
**DEF:** 25 (+2)  
**SPEED:** 39 (+1)  
**COOL:** 20 (+1)

 **EXP:** 121/320  
**To Next Level:** 199

* * *

Watching all those numbers go up is pretty cool though! The two of them could even make one of the numbers go higher with a ‘Bonus Stat’ or something. Sonic went with **POW** and Tails went with **HP** , and both managed to land a ‘+4’ from some sort of roulette.

I wonder what that whole **(E-Rank)** thing is about, though. What does it stand for? It can’t be results like the usual Sonic games, because that means the game’s telling us we suck. Repeatedly. On end. And that just wouldn’t be fun!

“Well, that was even easier than last time,” Sonic remarked, dusting his gloves. “How much of a grasp does Eggman even have on this place that he can only send Motobugs at us, anyway? I could’ve sworn he had a wider variety of Badniks than that.”

“Maybe Patch is too small for him?” I guessed. “We’re not exactly another Vale or anything, so maybe he’s focused his attention elsewhere.”

Tails shrugged. “Whatever the case may be, we can’t move on until we find out exactly what he’s doing on Patch. Hopefully, it won’t be anything too outrageous.”

Just then, I remembered the little bunny. “Hey, where’d the little bunny go?” I asked, looking about. “It was just here a little bit ago.”

“Must’ve gotten scared off by all the action,” Yang said. “That’s too bad, I thought we kicked ass pretty well!”

“Language!” I scolded Yang.

“Aw, come on Ruby! It’s not like I used that bad a curse word!”

“It’s still bad!” I screeched. “Aren’t you supposed to be setting a good example for your younger sister!?”

“Well, it’s not you’re going to actually _say_ it or anything.”

Sonic chuckled again. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he refocused our earlier topic. “Little animals are keen on their survival instinct, after all! We shouldn’t have to worry about it being captured again.”

I hope that means it won’t get mauled by any Grimm nearby. That’d be a terrible way to go out.

“Well, back to adventure!” Sonic declared. “We’ve still got plenty a ways to the village, and there’ll be several more Badniks in sight.”

“Oh, yeah!” Yang cheered. “More punching? Sign me up!”

* * *

**[Yang]**

Several battles later, we finally made it to the nearby village! I can’t believe Eggman made so many Motobugs. Like, how many does a single bad guy need to throw at us, anyway? At this point, they’re barely even good for target practice!

Ah well, at least we got **60 EXP** and **100 Rings** out of it, plus two more **Ring Monitors** (E-Rank) and **Green Materials**. Still a bit excessive, though. Ruby even got a level up out of it, just like Sonic and Tails earlier! She’s growing up so fast, I can barely keep up~

* * *

**Ruby Rose**  
**Level 4 (E-Rank)**  
_Silver-Eyed Huntress_

 **HP:** 28/28 (+1)  
**SP:** 22/22 (+2)  
**POW:** 34 (+1)  
**DEF:** 22 (+1)  
**SPEED:** 51 (+3)  
**COOL:** 17 (+2)

 **EXP:** 130/320  
**To Next Level:** 190

* * *

She didn’t know what to choose for her first stat bonus, though. Her eyes glazed over all six options, her finger hovering over each one. “What do I choose, what do I choose…?” she muttered under his breath.

“You don’t have to choose _that_ carefully, Rubes,” I told her. “It’s just a simple stat boost!”

“But this will determine how I’ll continue things from here on out!” she argued. “Stat boosts add up over time, and the periodic boost we get from them will be spaced out throughout our journey!” Huh, she did her research into this. No wonder Signal considered her a bit of a prodigy. I still think she’s overthinking this, though.

“Uhh, while I think your logic’s sound,” Sonic interjected, rubbing the back of his head, “I really don’t think you need to worry about it that much.”

“A-Are you sure?”

“Yeah! If you really need a first stat boost, try increasing your **DEF** ,” the hedgehog recommended. “After all, a higher DEF stat never hurt anybody! Maybe work your way up to becoming a Lightning Bruiser.”

“…what’s a Lightning Bruiser?” Oh, I forgot… Ruby’s never visited the land of TV Tropes before. I’m a little surprised – everybody stumbles onto there at some point.

…Note to self: Don’t let her touch that place with a ten-foot stick. Or her scythe. It’s a dangerous place to go to.

I should know; I still haven’t gotten off it.

“We’ll explain it later,” Tails said. “Just choose DEF and let’s go!”

“Well, if you say so!” Ruby tapped her **DEF** stat and managed to easily roll a ‘+4’. Seriously, that thing rolled its numbers so slowly, even Uncle Qrow could get a perfect ‘+4’ – while he’s as drunk as hell.

You know, I wonder how he’d react to us having these Scroll windows that we can make appear on command. He’d probably think it was a hallucination and just get even more inebriated. If Dad would let him, of course.

I guess it’s kind of a blessing then that he’s currently on a mission. I’m sure Ruby would want to tell him all about this, though.

After that, we finally made our way to the small village at Patch!

**Patch – Village**

Our little game even recognized it, though I’d think the village would have an actual name listed down. Like, **‘Village’** is just so simple. Why not something like ‘Platinum Village’? That’d be a pretty cool title! And platinum’s an alright color, too, and it matches Ruby’s eyes.

Our community here in Patch is relatively small, so everybody basically knows each other. I know for a fact that Ruby loves to come to the resident weapons forge here, alongside the one in Vale. She comes her so much that the forge guy here’s gotten fairly comfortable with handling Crescent Rose. Which is an achievement that not many other people can say, to be honest.

Sonic whistled at the sight. “Wow, look at all the variety in just this town alone,” he noticed. “Say, uh, what’s with all the animal appendages?”

Oh, that’s right. Sonic and Tails don’t know anything about the Faunus. “Those with animal traits are called **Faunus**. Aside from that, they’re a lot like humans… not that everyone sees it that way, of course.”

“Well, I honestly don’t see the problem,” Tails said. “They look pretty cool, though it’s clear they’re blatant fetish bait for all the people on DeviantART.”

“Oh, jeez!” Sonic groaned. “Don’t remind me! I’m still having trouble getting all the fetish art I’ve seen out of my head.”

 _“DeviantART? Fetish art?”_ Ruby asked under her breath. _“What are those?”_ Oh, for Oum’s sake, she better not go searching up that – I’d rather have her keep her innocence, thank you!

Doing my best to ignore that statement (Why was he even searching on DeviantART in the first place?), the four of us entered the village. “Hey, everybody!” I greeted, hand waving in the air, my signature grin plastered on my face.

A chorus of similar greetings echoed back. **“Hello, Yang!”**

Good to see they still remember us! I mean, of course they would, but it never hurts to check, you know?

“Wow!” A little boy – he goes by Nickel – started running up toward me, staring in awe at Sonic and Tails. “Ms. Yang, who are your new friends?”

Ha!—I still get a kick out of hearing the kids refer to me as ‘Ms. Yang’. It feels so good to be recognized… even if it’s only in a limited capacity.

Oh come on, don’t tell me you don’t like that feeling too!

I gestured toward my and Ruby’s other companions. “This is Sonic and Tails!” I introduced. Sonic, in turn, did a sort of mock bow. Tails just waved. “They’re looking for someone important, so we’re helping them.”

“That’s so _cool,”_ Nickel revered. “They look just like superheroes.”

“Hey, I thought we looked like superheroes too!” I mock pouted. “We’ve got Semblances and everything. Isn’t that enough?”

“No, you’re Huntresses. Superheroes are different. They’re even cooler! And they can save entire worlds, too!”

Sonic’s grin was as wide as mine was earlier. “Did you hear that, Yang?” he teased. “We’re cooler than you and Ruby! Kid said it; it must be a fact!”

“No way!” Ruby loudly denied. “Superheroes are cool and all, but Huntresses are even better! We have the best kind of thing that they don’t have: _weapons!”_ And there’s Ruby about to go off on a weapons tangent again. I swear, she’s been having those a lot more than usual.

Nickel tilted his head in clear confusion. “What’s so great about weapons?” he asked innocently. Ruby gasped dramatically, and then wilted in disappointment, a clear aura of sadness around her.

 _“Why does nobody appreciate the art of weaponry?”_ she said. I personally think she was overreacting, but eh, I might as well let her. I’ll be able to tease her over it later.

Tails patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I think your love of weaponry has merit to it. You don’t need to look so depressed.”

Nickel’s dad walked up from behind him, looking curiously at Sonic and Tails. He was a pretty tall guy, though he definitely wouldn’t be able to give Dad a run for his money in terms of combat skill. “Hmm… You two aren’t like any Faunus I’ve ever seen,” he stated, a hand under his chin.

“That’s because I’m not a Faunus,” Sonic corrected. “I’m a true blue hedgehog!”

“A hedgehog, you say? How interesting.” He laughed heartily. “Well, it’s not my place to ask about it. Tell you what, so long as you require assistance, we of the village of Patch will accommodate you.”

“Thanks!” Tails replied. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to have heard news about any sort of strange activity happening here, have you? It’s… kind of important that we get to the bottom of anything like that.”

“I can’t say I’ve heard any big news,” the man said, much to our dismay. Aw, that means less robot punching. “But all of us, myself included, have been hearing some sort of mysterious sound going off in the middle of the night.”

“…a mysterious sound?” I asked. That sounded ominous, and something that we definitely needed to know about. “What did it sound like?”

“It was some sort of… a warped, distorted sound. Very distinctive, too. It wasn’t very loud, but it was there.”

“Warped? Distorted?” Tails muttered to himself. “If my suspicions are correct…” Immediately, he pulled out his little tablet – making Nickel awe at it – and started tapping away at it. “Incidentally, this wouldn’t happen to be the sound, would it?”

From the speakers, a sound that I would most definitely describe as ‘warped’ and ‘distorted’ played. “Why, yes!” Nickel’s dad brightened up upon hearing the audio file. “That’s exactly what it sounded like!”

Ruby seemed to recognize the sound. She whispered in my ear, “That’s the sound of the Phantom Ruby from _Sonic Mania!”_

Back in October, Ruby had begged Dad to buy _Sonic Mania_ , which had introduced this sort of powerful gem called the **Phantom Ruby**. It seemed like a pretty cool tool, though the way it was implemented in _Sonic Forces_ was… questionable, even to someone like me.

Based on my knowledge, the Phantom Ruby could warp time and space, or something – I dunno, they were kind of vague about how it worked, and I didn’t really care enough to really do some in-depth research like Ruby. What was really worrying, however, was the fact that they had heard its distinctive sound _here,_ on Patch. Which meant that Eggman had already done something underneath our noses.

What it was, I didn’t know. But I knew we had to stop it, somehow. Preferably by punching it. Punching’s always nice.

“Don’t worry, Rubes,” I said. “Whatever it is, we’ll take care of it.”

Sonic and Tails looked at each other for a moment, before turning their attention back to Nickel’s dad. “That’s what we’re looking for,” Sonic confirmed. “Any idea where you guys heard the sound?”

Nickel’s dad pointed toward an unspecified direction away from the village. “The sound came from somewhere over there,” he stated. “We haven’t had the time to investigate it yet, but we were planning on doing so eventually.”

“We can save you a bunch of time and investigate it ourselves, after we stock up on resources,” Sonic offered. “Based on what you’ve told us, that place is gonna be an important landmark for our own mission.”

“That would be wonderful! Feel free to stay as long as you need beforehand. I’m certain Ruby and Yang here can show you two around.”

“We’d love to!” Ruby said. “Oooooh, I need to show you two the forge here! I spend so much of my time there, you should really see it!”

“The forge, eh?” Sonic smiled. “Sounds like a neat place!”

* * *

**[QUEST CLEAR!]**  
**Information Gathering**

 **[REWARDS]**  
30 AP  
200 Rings

**[OK]**

* * *

“Whoa!” Nickel suddenly cut in, aweing over the Scroll window that just popped up. “What’s that cool screen?”

“It’s, uh… a new Huntsmen thing,” I awkwardly explained. “It’s not really important right now…” How exactly do I explain this to a kid again…?

* * *

**[Sonic]**

This village was pretty cool! The people here were nice and inviting, and to their credit, they didn’t exactly flinch too hard upon seeing me or Tails. Which is something I thought would happen more often, to be honest.

Eh, we’ve got several dimensions worth to travel through, I’m sure they’ll be _some_ sort of reaction there.

While we were here, we decided to see if there was any other information worth gathering on Eggman’s actions – most of the villagers had basically the same information as the first guy we met. I guess Eggman didn’t really care to send any Badniks over to this village yet, which is fine by me. I like bashing ‘em and all, but there is such a thing as ‘too much of a good thing’ (except for running, of course).

This village actually seemed like a very stereotypical ‘first village’, if you get my drift. A village out in the middle of nowhere, generally grassy area, fairly small community, all the signs were there. And I’m not saying that’s bad or anything – it just seems pretty clichéd. That might be the point, though.

There was even a little **item shop** in this place! And for some reason, it was even literally _labeled_ an ‘Item Shop’.

I… have no idea _why,_ and it seems a little too meta, but hey, it made it easy to find.

“Hey, I don’t remember this place being an item shop before,” Ruby noticed. “Where’d this label come from?”

“Must be a rebranding, or something,” Yang said.

“I suppose we _do_ need some items,” Tails mused. “Just three basic Ring Monitors won’t be getting us very far, especially since there are four of us.”

“Why exactly do we need items again?” Yang asked. “I’m pretty sure we can take things just fine with us four.”

Oh, Yang, you really weren’t kidding when you said you didn’t play RPGs. “Past experience has taught us that items can be helpful in a wide variety of situations,” I said. “You never know when you’ll be in a pinch and need them!” The Nocturne crisis was quite the lesson on that, though I will still wonder why we had to use seeds as healing items. Like, it’s not like we ever used them before or afterwards.

“And with the whole ‘Frame Points’ thing Eggman’s doing,” Tails added, “it’s likely we’ll be using them a lot. Heavy Gunner hit us hard, after all!”

“Okay, okay, I get the picture,” Yang conceded. “Let’s just go in already.”

The shop itself was rather quaint, wooden and homely just like the rest of the village. It was almost like something out of _Ocarina of Time._ There were a number of items available for show – and unsurprisingly, they were all items from my dimension. Eggman shenanigans are pretty convenient that way, huh?

“Whoa!” Ruby stared at the monitors on display. “Those look just like the stuff from your games, Sonic! But how?”

The shopkeeper looked up at us, surprise briefly showing up on his face at the sight of us before being schooled back to a normal expression. He had the ears of a bear on his head (alongside normal human ears… which seems really weird), so I guess that meant he was a Faunus.

“Oh, these just suddenly showed up in my shop without any sort of explanation,” he said. “I didn’t really know what to do with them, so I just started selling them alongside all my other stuff. You four seem to recognize them, though.”

“I’ve seen and used them before a lot,” I said. “They’ve been very useful over the years.” It can be difficult keeping a handle on all those Rings, though. I wonder if we’ll be using Shield power-ups on this journey, too?

They’d be pretty useless if they dissipated after just one hit like usual, though. Hopefully, they’d last longer – maybe three hits would suffice?

“If that’s the case, then feel free to have a look at my wares,” the shopkeep continued. “We may not have a lot of resources, but what’s there is good enough on its own. Just… be sure to pay; I’m not rich or anything.”

On cue, another screen showed up on the counter, displaying a shop menu as expected. The Faunus shopkeeper didn’t seem very surprised by it, for one reason or another. I heard him mutter under his breath, “Since when did we get these new pieces of Scroll technology, anyway? I don’t remember installing them… or even ordering them…”

He was probably referring to the game windows. If he wanted to think of ‘em that way, then be my guest! Less explanation required, and it certainly gets the job done faster.

* * *

** Item Shop **

**Rings:** 635

***[Buy Items]*  
[Sell Items]**

**[Exit Menu]**

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Shops**

You won’t be able to handle things based purely on your skill, so you’re going to need a little help. That’s what **shops** are for!

Using **Rings,** you can purchase a variety of useful items and equipment from a myriad of different shops across dimensions. Each shop will have a different selection of items and gear, so be sure to check in at every shop you find!

You can also **sell** your inventory of items in exchange for Rings. This can be useful if you’re in need of any money quickly.

Well, that’s all you need to know about the shops of this game. Happy shopping!

**[OK]**

* * *

We really didn’t need a tutorial on how to shop of all things, but I suppose I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

The shop menu itself was fairly simplistic, but that’s to be expected in a game like this. What else would you do at a shop, a running marathon? A boss fight?

I brought up the **[Buy]** screen to see just what types of items are available.

* * *

** Buy Items **

**Rings:** 635

Page 1 of 1  
**[Ring Monitor** (E-Rank) **] – 10 Rings (x5)**  
***[Combi-Ring Monitor** (E-Rank) **]* – 25 Rings (x0)**  
***[Chaos Drive** (E-Rank) **]* – 20 Rings (x0)**  
***[1-Up Monitor]* – 50 Rings (x0)**  
***[Secret Box]* – 150 Rings (x0)**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

There were five types of items to buy immediately – the Ring Monitor and 1-Up Monitor were expected, this being an RPG, but the Combi-Ring Monitor and Chaos Drive?

Like, I know the Combi-Ring Monitor isn’t quite as obscure, being featured in _Sonic Mania,_ but the Chaos Drives? Those haven’t been relevant since _Sonic ’06…_ and only now am I remembering why they haven’t been.

I read the descriptions of each different new item.

 **[ITEM]  
Combi-Ring Monitor** (E-Rank)

A holding device shaped like a television. Upon usage, it will restore **20 HP** to all allies.

 **Cost:** 25 Rings

**[OK]**

**[ITEM]  
Chaos Drive ** (E-Rank)

A device made of crystallized chaos energy. Upon usage, it will restore **20 SP** to a single ally.

 **Cost:** 20 Rings

**[OK]**

**[ITEM]  
1-Up Monitor**

A holding device shaped like a television. Upon usage, it will revive an unconscious ally with half of their overall HP.

 **Cost:** 50 Rings

**[OK]**

…man, I feel nostalgic seeing all these old items again. That’s one of the best parts of nostalgia, despite how much it’s consumed us – it can be a heartfelt reminder of all the long-lost parts of your history.

Again, I’m noticing parallels to some of Mario’s RPGs with some of these items. I mean, ‘restoring HP to all allies’ was one of Mario’s item types, last I checked.

I’m glad we’re not carrying the specific item Mario uses though – I’m sure that Yang would crack a bunch of jokes from having ‘Nut’ items in our inventory. I’d do it too, but I think she’d take it to a whole new level.

…I shouldn’t tell her about that aspect of Mario’s stuff.

“Wow, these sound really useful!” Ruby stated, her eyes radiating with hype. “Yang, how much allowance do you have on you?”

“Hold up Ruby, look at the menu carefully,” Yang said. “It doesn’t say anything about the cost in **Lien,** it says in Rings.” Lien, eh? Must be the currency here.

 _“Wha!?”_ Ruby’s eyes went wide – it actually made her look kind of cute. “But then that means we can’t buy any of it! How are we supposed to go on an adventure if we can’t buy anything!?”

“Don’t worry, Ruby!” Tails said. “We can still buy them in Rings, and we have enough of those. It won’t be that hard to get ‘em, anyway. Worst comes to worst, we can always use Sonic’s secret stash.”

Wait… what?

“Oh yeah! Say…” Ruby turned to me. “Sonic, where _do_ you keep all your Rings anyway?”

“Oh, uhhhhhhh…” I scratched the back of my head. That’s a gaming secret that I don’t think I’m ready to reveal yet – I mean, not even _Tails_ knows where I put them. “That’s a story for another time,” I quickly said, bringing up the description for the next item on the list immediately afterward. ( _“Hey, I want to know!”_ Ruby protested.)

**[ITEM]  
Secret Box**

Does who knows what. Open it to find out its secrets!

 **Cost:** 150 Rings

**[OK]**

“Well, that’s… not very descriptive,” I remarked out loud. Seriously, that description left a lot to be desired. And something about the way it says the item works felt… uncomfortable. “Do you know what these do?”

“I have just as much knowledge about those as you four,” the shopkeeper admitted. “I tried opening one yesterday and it didn’t seem to do anything. Maybe you can find a use for it.”

As it stands right now, getting the Secret Box wouldn’t be that useful. Maybe if we find it as an item drop, but not now. So let’s focus on the other items on display!

“So, you three,” I started saying to my companions, “what do you think we should get?”

“We need a bunch of healing items,” Tails suggested straight away. “Like I said before, we need to be prepared for all of Eggman’s heavy hitters, and that means being able to heal well.”

“I still don’t really get it,” Yang commented, “but if you guys think they’re good, they’re good.”

I tapped the **[Ring Monitor** (E-Rank) **]** button and decided to buy seven of them, giving us a nice round twelve. A few Chaos Drives couldn’t hurt either, so I pre-emptively bought five of them for later.

Oh, and three 1-Up Monitors.

Being unconscious kind of sucks, in case you didn’t realize.

“Okay,” I said, “that seems like everything we’ll need for now.”

“Hey, what about the **Combi-Ring Monitor** things?” Ruby protested. “Those look pretty cool, too!”

I blinked. “Right, those. Almost forgot about them.” I don’t think we’ll need those as much specifically, but getting two of those didn’t hurt.

When our miniature shopping spree was over with, the menu looked a little like this:

* * *

** Buy Items **

**Rings:** 190

Page 1 of 1  
**[Ring Monitor** (E-Rank) **] – 10 Rings (x12)**  
**[Combi-Ring Monitor** (E-Rank) **] – 25 Rings (x2)**  
**[Chaos Drive** (E-Rank) **] – 20 Rings (x5)**  
**[1-Up Monitor] – 50 Rings (x3)**  
**[Secret Box] – 150 Rings (x0)**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

That leaves us with just 190 Rings left – that’s a pretty small number, but I’m sure we’ll find some use for them. “Well, we should be good to go, now!” Tails said.

“We’re totally unstoppable now!” Ruby cheered. I’m not so certain about that, but I’m not about to go and ruin her beliefs.

I noticed out of the corner of my vision the shopkeeper checking his cashier, going _“What the?”_ at its contents. I’m no expert on this, but something tells me it’s fuller than he expected it to be.

Hooray for magic currency conversion! Saves you a bunch of time when you need to trade in Coins for Rings during the Olympics.

“Alright, let’s just back out of the menu, and… huh?” Before my eyes, yet another tutorial prompt showed up – which was weird, because since when did shops have more functions beyond buying and selling items?

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Scratch Cards**

After buying a number of items, you can participate in a special shopping program known as the **Scratch Cards**! Just scratch one square out of several and you will have the opportunity to win back a percentage of the Rings you spent!

The amount of Rings you win back will depend on the icon you scratch on the card. But be wary of the dreaded Eggman icon; if you scratch that, you won’t be getting any of your Rings back, so be careful!

Your chances of winning will increase the higher your **COOL** points are, so make sure to regularly put points into that category as you level up!

_(Note: This won’t take away any currency away from the shopkeepers, so there’s no need to fear about that.)_

Scratch a scratch card?

**[YES] / [NO]**

* * *

…huh, that’s new. We can get back some of the Rings we spent? That’s a pretty cool mechanic, if I do say so myself! (It does feel Mario-y in a way I can’t explain, though.)

“…well, that’s mighty convenient,” Tails remarked. “But I’m not complaining.”

“Who would?” Yang said. “It’s free money! You can’t say no to that!”

“Yeah! You could use that money to do something cool, like upgrading your weapons!” Ruby chimed in predictably.

I chuckled. “Man, you guys can be a little pushy sometimes.” Tapping **[YES]** to the prompt, a virtual scratch card replaced it, a five-by-five board of greyed-out icons. “Gee, that’s… a lot of things to scratch out,” I noticed. Welp, here’s hoping my high COOL stat can help out!

I tapped one of the many icons at random.

A little bit of the grey disappeared.

…oh, right. I have to actually _scratch_ it. _Scratch_ cards.

I rubbed the icon a little more and wouldn’t you know it, an icon appeared! It was an image of Cream’s face, looking all happy. Aww, she looks so adorable like that – no wonder all the Chao love her.

**[SCRATCH CARD]**

Congratulations, you got **Cream’s face**! You will receive 10% of the Rings you spent.

**[OK]**

And just like that, over 45 Rings were deposited back into our balance. That meant we now had 235 Rings – enough for two 1-Ups in a normal setting. Hmm, now I’m wondering. If we were playing a different genre entirely – say, a platformer as usual – would we share 1-Ups, or would we each have our own separate supply of them?

I’d ask Mario, but he’s dabbled in both categories, so who’s to say?

…jeez, my mind keeps coming back to him. Are all the functions of this system really reminding me so much of his own games?

“Well, thank you for your patronage,” the shopkeeper thanked us. More quietly, he muttered, “even if I don’t know exactly where all that extra Lien came from…”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Shopkeeper!” Ruby said in return.

* * *

**[Ruby]**

As we were exiting the Item Shop, I noticed a strange, colorful stand hanging about nearby. “Hey, what’s that?” I pointed out. “We’ve never had a stand like that before. Is the carnival in town?” Are they advertising the Vytal Festival? But that won’t be for another year.

“No, wait… I recognize that place!” Sonic said. Huh? He’s seen that before?

Amidst murmurs of _“Is that an Atlas creation?”_ and _“Why is it so… bright?”,_ the four of us approached the strange stand. Hovering about it was a cute little robot that looked just like a Chao – **Omochao**! I can’t tell you how many hours I spent with the Chao Gardens in _Sonic Adventure_ and _Sonic Adventure 2_. They’re so cute to take care of, just like Zwei (our dog)!

As for Omochao himself, I never really minded him. He’s just a cute robot, just trying his best to do his job. I don’t really get what’s so bad about him, to be honest.

“Oh, great,” Sonic groaned, clearly not sharing my opinion. “It’s Omochao. Just what we needed.”

The robot Chao flipped around to look at us. **“Hi, I’m Omochao!”** it declared in a high-pitched fashion. **“I’m a travelling vender and hint giver here to help you on your quest!”**

“How’d you even get here, anyway? I don’t remember anybody anywhere who would ever willingly give out any sort of dimensional transportation stuff to you.”

 **“Oh, I found it myself!”** Somehow, the little robot seemed happy when he said that. **“Dr. Eggman dropped some sort of technology while he was walking around, and I managed to pick it up and attach it to my systems. Now I can help you out anywhere, anytime!”** Seriously? Is Eggman _that_ irresponsible? That’s like mishandling Crescent Rose – you just don’t do that!

Sonic instinctively shuddered, and at the same time, Tails looked like he was withholding a giggle. “Look at that, Sonic!” he voiced. “Omochao’s here to help you out!”

Yang looked confused. “I don’t get it,” she said, “what’s so bad about Omochao?”

“Sonic doesn’t like how Omochao gives out Captain Obvious statements, and their high-pitched voices doesn’t really help either. Back in the day, he had to deal with a lot of Omochao, and now they kind of annoy him.”

“Annoying, eh? I didn’t think there was anything that could irritate you, Sonic.”

“Tutorials tend to do that to you,” Sonic kept groaning. “And here I thought I’d seen the last of Omochao back during my revisit to Marble Zone. At least his shop from _Generations_ is back… whatever it does this time.”

 _Sonic Generations_ was a great game. I mean, it was just so fast-paced and energetic! Yang doesn’t like it, says something about how ‘my reflexes are too good for this,’ but I think anybody can enjoy it if they really try.

I vaguely remember _Generations_ had a bunch of abilities you could equip, but I kind of just ignored them because they weren’t important to me. Just boosting about was enough for me!

 **“Since my** Skill Shop **from 2011 was so popular, I decided to bring it back for you guys! Now you can increase the power of your abilities as long as you have AP to spend!”**

“So _that’s_ what the AP is about!” Tails said, snapping his fingers. “It stands for **Ability Points** , doesn’t it?”

 **“Wow! You’re even smarter than I am!”** I’m… not sure if that was a compliment or not. Should I treat it as such? **“You can get Ability Points from doing a wide variety of quests! If you give them to me, I can upgrade your abilities and make them even stronger!”**

“…I guess that sounds alright,” Sonic conceded. “Let’s see what the Skill Shop is all about this time.

* * *

** Skill Shop **

**AP:** 70

 **[Sonic’s Abilities]**  
**[Tails’ Abilities]**  
**[Ruby’s Abilities]**  
**[Yang’s Abilities]**

**[Exit Menu]**

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Using the Skill Shop**

**Omochao** has graciously lent his services to help you **upgrade your abilities** by using **AP** (Ability Points). You can get AP from completing quests and other various tasks!

Every ability has a variable amount of AP required to level it up. The higher the level, the more AP will be required to go to the next level. **You can’t take back any AP** once you put it into an ability, so choose wisely!

**[OK]**

* * *

“Well, that’s good to know!” I said. “So, what do we upgrade first?”

“Good question,” Tails replied, getting his tablet out again. He’s gonna pull that thing out a lot, huh? Too bad it isn’t a gun or anything. “Based on my calculations, I believe it will be more beneficial to focus on our **Combat Abilities** first, so we can more efficiently fight.”

“Awwwwwww…” I pouted. “But I wanted to upgrade my **[Weapon Handling]** first!”

“Don’t worry,” Yang told me, “we’ll have an opportunity to upgrade our Passive Abilities later. Besides, being able to fight better with automatically make this adventure so much more fun!”

“You sure about that?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Of course! Do you seriously doubt your older sister on this?”

“Yes,” I put bluntly. I still remember the pranks on April Fools’ Day.

“How could you be so cruel, Ruby! After all I’ve done!”

“So,” I continued, ignoring Yang’s overdramatic spiel (I’ve heard it all before, she can whine all she wants), “which ability do we upgrade first? We’ve got quite a lot to go through here.”

“Hmm… maybe something in your ability set will work, Ruby,” Tails recommended. “Based on the skills we’ve seen, there’s got to be something good there.” Tails thinks I’m ‘good at this’! Squeeeeeee!

* * *

** Skill Shop **

**AP:** 70

[Sonic] / [Tails] / **[Ruby]** / [Yang]

 **[Sniper Shot] Lv. 1 – 0/30 AP**  
**[Scatter the Petals] Lv. 1 – 0/40 AP**  
**[Weapon Handling] Lv. 1 – 0/30 AP**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

“So… either **[Sniper Shot]** or **[Scatter the Petals]** ,” I determined. Automatically, I knew what they were referring to. My gun, or my Semblance. Well, I know what I’m going to pick!

I tapped **[Scatter the Petals]** – which is actually a cool title (Though I’m not so blind that I’d miss the reference. Mom… can see you me right now?) – and filled in the 40 AP needed to fill it up. What? Your Semblance is always one of the most important parts of combat.

A bunch of fanfare and special effects lit up the Skill Shop screen, and it proudly displayed my upgraded Semblance for us to read.

**[COMBAT ABILITY]  
Scatter the Petals (Lv. 2)**

Your Semblance allows you to move faster than even most Huntsmen and Huntresses only dare to dream of. This also has the side-effect of being able to manipulate the winds in order to damage enemies. The wind manipulation effect can be magnified, but it will take up some of your SP.

_( **Lv. 2** allows for a higher damage output and better wind manipulation.)_

**Next level will require 100 AP.**

**[OK]**

More damage, and better wind manipulation? Sign me up! I’m always up for having a Semblance that’s even more awesome.

Yang whistled. “Man, that sounds neato! I wanna upgrade my Semblance, too!”

“Uh, Yang? Your Semblance is a Passive Ability,” I reminded her. “Besides, it’s already overpowered enough; we don’t need it to be _more_ overpowered.”

“But you’re making _your_ Semblance overpowered! It’s only right that I get to make mine better, too.”

“Girls, girls!” Sonic said. “Everybody will get their chance in the spotlight sometime. But the rest of us need an upgrade, too.” He tapped away at the screen, bringing up his own screen of upgradable abilities.

* * *

** Skill Shop **

**AP:** 30

 **[Sonic]** / [Tails] / [Ruby] / [Yang]

 **[Homing Attack] Lv. 1 – 0/20 AP**  
**[Spin Dash] Lv. 1 – 0/20 AP**  
**[Air Cracker] Lv. 1 – 0/30 AP**  
**[Chaotic Strength] Lv. 1 – 0/50 AP**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

And of course, by virtue of being the main ‘good guy’, Sonic’s AP costs are lower than the rest of us. I had 30s and 40s, he gets 20s and 30s! That is _so_ not fair.

“I think my **[Homing Attack]** and **[Spin Dash]** work well enough,” he said to himself. “I mean, I’ve only been using them for basically my entire lifespan, so I know how to use them. So let’s go with my **[Air Cracker]**. I really need to use it more, anyway.”

“That was your landmine thing, right?” I reminded myself. “I don’t really know why you need something like that. Aren’t you fast enough to basically be a landmine yourself?”

“Hey, it can be pretty useful. Being a trap guy fits my MO. Besides… it’s been useful in the past. Especially when Emerl… really needed it.” A contemplative, somber smile appeared on his face as he brought out one of his Air Crackers. “…I’m sure this is the right decision.”

Popping in 30 AP, more fanfare and special effects brightened up the screen.

**[COMBAT ABILITY]  
Air Cracker (Lv. 2)**

You’re a speedster, so it’s only natural that you have a few traps at your disposal – such as landmine you can drop onto the ground. Will induce a stronger explosion at higher levels.

**Next level will require 80 AP.**

**[OK]**

And with that, we’d run out of AP to spend. **“Wow, you’ve already gotten some abilities upgraded!”** Omochao noticed, stating the obvious. **“I can’t wait to see where you guys will go from here. Don’t forget to keep visiting my Skill Shop!”**

“Yeah, Omochao, we’ll do that,” Sonic said. “You, uh… keep doing whatever it is you’re doing, and we’ll be doing ours. Let’s… go, guys.”

The four of us walked away from Omochao’s Skill Shop. “So, there’s one more place I want to show you guys!” I excitedly exclaimed.

“The forge, right?” Tails remembered. “I do suppose we need to go see what your **[Weapon Handling]** ability is all about. Maybe even make a few improvements to ours.”

With that, I shot straight toward the forge, not even waiting for everyone else to catch up. I can’t tell you how much of my time I’ve spent just at the forge, marveling over all the different types of weapons there – oh, and modifying Crescent Rose, of course! Weapons can always be improved and made _even better!_

I burst through the door, calling to the other guys as they walked over. “Come on guys, this way!”

“Hold up, Ruby!” Yang called back. “You don’t have to run that fast, now! The forge isn’t that far.”

The forge looked just the same as it always had. “Hmm, doesn’t look half bad,” Sonic commented. “I could see why you’d spend a lot of time here.”

“How could I not? This is where all the best things in all of Remnant are born! …except for cookies, but otherwise all the best things!”

Yang shook her head. “I always wonder how you never tire of coming here,” she said.

“Oh, Ruby! You’re back again.” Coming over to us was the resident forge guy, Mr. Bistre. He was kinda old and his brown hair was going pretty grey, but he knew his weapons well!

“Hi, Mr. Bistre!” I greeted. “I was just showing my new friends around!”

Sonic took the stage after me. “Hey there!” he waved. “I’m Sonic—Sonic the Hedgehog, and this is my friend, Tails. We’re kind of new here, so Ruby and Yang were showing us about. She really wanted us to come here.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Ruby’s been here ever since she was little. I still remember when she was still getting advice for building her scythe. Speaking of which, I recently got a new shipment of weapon parts – though I haven’t the foggiest idea where it came from. I’m sure that you can make some sense of it, Ruby.”

I felt my face brighten. New parts? That’s almost as great as new weapon magazines! “Ooooooooh! I wanna see, I wanna see!” On cue, Mr. Bistre brought out a huge box of materials, and I got so engrossed in them that I almost missed the tutorial prompt that appeared beside me.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Weapon Modification**

Ruby has the ability to efficiently **modify your party’s weapons** by giving them attachments. Each attachment has a different set of **stat boosts and special effects** to them, and each can be made from a wide variety of materials.

You can find materials through overworld pick-ups and defeating enemies. However, you can only equip one type of attachment at a time, so make sure to choose carefully!

The types of attachments available will depend on the level of Ruby’s **[Weapon Handling]** ability, so be sure to level it up well.

**[OK]**

* * *

** Forge Menu **

**Rings:** 235

 **[Modify Gear]**  
**[Sell Items]**  
**[Materials]**

**[Exit Menu]**

* * *

I was drooling at all the possibilities running through my head. Eagerly, I tapped the **[Modify Gear]** button to see what was available.

* * *

** Modify Gear **

**Rings:** 235

 ~~[Sonic]~~ / **[Tails]** / [Ruby] / [Yang]

 **[Energy Cannon] – 30 Rings (x1)**  
***[Discount Cannon]* – 100 Rings (x0)**  
***[Picnic Cannon]* – 190 Rings (x0)**

**[Back to Menu]**

* * *

There wasn’t a lot here, to be honest. Sonic didn’t get a section because he didn’t use a weapon (yet), but the rest of us got… two available attachments. Sadly, all they did was increase our POW, but still! It’s a start!

“Hmm… I think you and Yang are pretty good on the weapons front for now,” Tails surmised. “I mean, you’ve got +14 and +10 POW boosts, whereas me and Sonic… don’t really have anything.”

“Eh, all I need is my speed, my boots, and my Air Cracker,” Sonic interjected. “I’m still feeling good!”

“I didn’t really need upgrades to Ember Celica, anyway,” Yang said. “So long as I can punch a robot, I’m just golden!”

“Then let’s get the best weapon available for you, Tails!” I decided. “We’ve got just enough Rings to make it happen! …and hopefully Materials.”

**[WEAPON]  
Picnic Cannon**

A cannon you could take to picnics.

_(+10 POW)_

**[COST]**  
190 Rings  
6 Green Material

**Buy this weapon modification?**

**[YES] / [NO]**

As quick as Sonic himself, I whipped out the six of the Green Material we had. “Alright Tails, hand me your cannon and I’ll get to work!”

“Ooh, watch closely,” I heard Yang mock-whisper to Sonic. “Ruby can really get going when it comes to weapons.”

“I thought we’d seen enough of that with Crescent Rose,” Sonic said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s about to get even deeper.”

“Well, sure,” Tails said, shrugging as he handed his Energy Cannon over. Immediately, I got to work, speeding around (at the speed of sound, hehe!) and putting all the pieces together. I could feel the wind flowing through my hair as I modified the Energy Cannon as fast as I could.

I’ve gotten good at quick weapons modification, if I do say so myself! I mean, when you’ve got a Semblance like mine, isn’t it only right that you learn to use it in the most efficient ways possible?

Plus, it’s not like it uses my Aura in any significant manner, so it’s a win-win situation!

Eventually, I stopped to bask in the glory of the upgraded weapon before me. It was shining as if it were brand new, a testament to how well the upgrade went.

“Whoa.” Sonic’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “That was _fast,_ even by my standards.”

Mr. Bistre laughed heartily. “Yes, you’ll find Ruby tends to induce such reactions a lot. She’s certainly learned a lot since her Aura was first unlocked.”

“Well, here you go, Tails!” I handed Tails his Energy Cannon (now a Discount Cannon) back. His own face was pretty shocked himself.

“Wow, you’re pretty talented at this,” he said, equipping the cannon once again. “It even feels brand new.”

“Told you I was good at this!” I grinned. It feels so great to have someone else compliment my efforts! Ooh, and I’ll be doing this a lot over the course of this adventure! This is going to be so fun!

“We should have everything we need now,” Sonic stated. “That means there’s only one thing to do next. You guys ready to head to our next destination?”

“I’m ready!” I declared myself. I’m ready, I’m ready!”

Tails replied with “You bet!” and Yang punned with “We’re so gonna cannonball whatever it is Eggman’s doing!”

“Leaving already? That’s fine,” Mr. Bistre said. “You’ll be welcome here whenever you decide to come back. Just make sure to stay safe, Ruby, Yang. I’d hate to be the one to inform your father that you’re missing.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Bistre!” I told him. “We’ll be careful!”

* * *

**[Sonic]**

**Patch – Village Path**

At last, after what felt like a barrage of endless tutorials, we were on our way to our next destination, wherever it is that might be. “Man, those villagers were actually rather nice,” I remarked to the party. “Though it was weird how they didn’t have any name tags over their heads.”

Yang blinked in surprise. “Oh. Huh. You’re right, they didn’t. I wonder why’s that?”

“Maybe it’s because the system considers them NPCs,” Tails guessed, “or maybe it’s that they’re not too important to our mainline ‘plot’. Or both.”

“Well, whatever the case, I hope Eggman doesn’t come around and take their frames,” I hoped, shuddering a bit. “We barely managed to hold his forces off ourselves at our current power level, I don’t want to know what’ll happen with a bunch of defenseless civilians who aren’t immune like us.”

“That’d be horrible!” Ruby exclaimed. “Hopefully we can stop him before that happens!”

As we walked along the path, I noticed there was a cliff at the end. “There’s a cliff ahead,” I noticed. “Maybe we can get a good view of whatever it was the villagers heard.”

“Well, it can’t have been anything too bad, seeing as how we didn’t exactly notice anything,” Yang said. “We should be able to handle it no prob!”

“I’ll go on ahead and take a look.” With my super speed, I dashed right toward the edge of the cliff. This is the first world, so maybe Eggman has a Death Egg Robot stored (thanks for that, _Mania)_ or a Capsule – or just a signpost, who knows? Looking down, I saw—

…what the heck?

No seriously, _what the heck?_

I stood there just staring at the sight before me for a minute. I knew the Phantom Ruby had some bullcrap powers, Shadow told me that, but this is a whole new level!

“Hey, Sonic, what’s over there?” I heard Ruby’s voice call out to me. “You just went silent all of a sudden. Are you okay?” The sound of fluttering petals filled my ears, and Ruby was soon beside me. “H-Huh!? B-But how!?”

Tails and Yang soon caught up, and they too were flabbergasted at the sight before us. “…no way,” Yang whispered. “Is that…?”

Below us were a familiar set of bright green hills alternating between a light and medium shade, with hills and bushes and terrain that was more uneven than the aftermath of an earthquake. Waterfalls and palm trees stood out as significant landmarks, with Rings and Monitors and Badniks dotting the environment.

I’ve seen this place before, over twenty-five years ago, and I could tell you right off the bat what it was. The place indicator on my HUD even changed as if to taunt me about this super nonsensical fact.

**Patch – Emerald Hill Zone**

“Yup,” Tails confirmed. “It’s **Emerald Hill Zone**!”

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

“Patching In These Colorful Hills, Part 2”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, more nostalgia pandering! Not even Eggman can escape its effects (or the desire for it).
> 
> Jeez, this chapter is longggggg – it’s close to 12k words alone, and half of it is basically nothing but filler (important filler, but still). I had intended for the discovery of **Emerald Hill Zone** to happen earlier in this chapter, but I noticed things were getting a little long-winded, so I decided to cut it here.
> 
> Don’t worry, this chapter will have the last of the long tutorial segments for a while. Before we continued on, I wanted to introduce all the shop-related systems that we’ll be seeing quite a lot (minus gear, which we can get to later). Items, abilities, and weapon upgrading are all here. The latter two aren’t exactly in the _Mario & Luigi_ series, but hey, I can take a few liberties.
> 
> I hope the perspective flavor text and dialogue is still as high quality as always. Having to write so many tutorials kind of zapped my motivation for this, so getting to something actually interesting (i.e. **Emerald Hill** ) should keep me going for the next chapter.
> 
>  _RWBY_ doesn’t exactly show a lot of the day-to-day village stuff in the show runtime, so that allows the fandom to basically go wild. I have little experience with writing any type of OC, even minor ones, so I similarly kept things a little vague here so I didn’t have to go that into detail. Please don’t mind it too much.
> 
> As for why the villagers’ reactions are fairly subdued, living on Remnant would kind of temper the weirdness factor a little, and Patch (based on what we know) is a fairly small community, so I believe I’m allowed a little leeway there than if Sonic and Tails just jumped right into Vale.
> 
> And yes, Omochao can now travel through dimensions. Be fearful. Be very fearful. He commands the **Skill Shop** just like _Sonic Generations,_ and I feel like it makes a lot of sense for him to be the ability upgrader. It’ll also be funny to watch everyone else’s reactions to this strange robotic cute Chao thing floating about with a huge colorful shack. Just brightens up your day, huh?
> 
> Next time on **_Frames of Animation,_** the crew explores the blatant nostalgia bait that is **Emerald Hill Zone**! See you then!


	5. Patching In These Colorful Hills, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Emerald Hill Zone** , of all places, is on the world of Remnant. Definitely, this is something the crew didn't expect to see. Sonic and co. are off to explore this (technically) unexplored territory and find out its secrets!

**_Last time…_ **

_“I’ll go on ahead and take a look.” With my super speed, I dashed right toward the edge of the cliff. This is the first world, so maybe Eggman has a Death Egg Robot stored (thanks for that, Mania) or a Capsule – or just a signpost, who knows? Looking down, I saw—_

_…what the heck?_

_No seriously, **what the heck?**_

_I stood there just staring at the sight before me for a minute. I knew the Phantom Ruby had some bullcrap powers, Shadow told me that, but this is a whole new level!_

_“Hey, Sonic, what’s over there?” I heard Ruby’s voice call out to me. “You just went silent all of a sudden. Are you okay?” The sound of fluttering petals filled my ears, and Ruby was soon beside me. “H-Huh!? B-But how!?”_

_Tails and Yang soon caught up, and they too were flabbergasted at the sight before us. “…no way,” Yang whispered. “Is that…?”_

_Below us were a familiar set of bright green hills alternating between a light and medium shade, with hills and bushes and terrain that was more uneven than the aftermath of an earthquake. Waterfalls and palm trees stood out as significant landmarks, with Rings and Monitors and Badniks dotting the environment._

_I’ve seen this place before, over twenty-five years ago, and I could tell you right off the bat what it was. The place indicator on my HUD even changed as if to taunt me about this super nonsensical fact._

**Patch – Emerald Hill Zone**

_“Yup,” Tails confirmed. “It’s **Emerald Hill Zone**!”_

* * *

**[Sonic]**

Emerald Hill Zone is a place I have fond memories of.

It’s where my second big journey began. It’s where I first met Tails. It’s where I learned how to Spin Dash. And of course, it’s where Eggman first brought out his blatant _Star Wars_ rip-off, the **Death Egg**. Seriously, that thing can never seem to just die.

Every now and then, the two of us do come back to Westside Island just to bask in the nostalgia factor (Yeah, for as much as we riff on it, even we can’t deny it’s a fun feeling). How can we not? It’s a zone that holds a lot of history for us. But this? This is just taking nostalgia pandering to a new level.

Like, how did Eggman even _do_ such a thing? He copied literally the entirety of Emerald Hill Zone on Remnant. And I _do_ mean copied; I was on Emerald Hill just a few days ago and it hadn’t moved a non-existent muscle.

And last I checked, the Phantom Ruby doesn’t make ‘virtual reality worlds’ quite that incomplete and haphazardly placed, or whatever the heck Eggman said it could do before. And now it can do stuff like _this?_

…and did have to be another grassy zone that we’ve all seen before?

Maybe we should’ve kept a better eye on Eggman while we were rebuilding.

Ruby, at least, seemed to be taking this in stride.

“Omigosh omigosh omigosh!” she squealed in delight. “It’s Emerald Hill Zone! We get to actually run around Emerald Hill Zone here on Patch!!!” She was running back and forth in excitement, rose petals scattering within the close proximity. _“This is the **greatest**!”_

“Uhh, I’m glad you’re happy and all, Rubes,” Yang told her sister, “but shouldn’t we be concerned about the fact that it’s _here_ in the first place?”

“It’s probably because of Eggman’s experiments with the Phantom Ruby!” Tails deduced, his mind working as fast as always. “Even with it being depowered, it still has a ton of power behind it. Eggman showed us he can still teleport with it, so it’s not too unreasonable to think that he wouldn’t be able to do this. That’s what I’m theorizing, anyway.”

“Well, we won’t find any answers by just sitting out here!” I said, gearing up to go. It may have been twenty-five years, but I still know how to speed through this zone like the back of my hand! “Now let’s blast through this with Sonic speed!” I hopped into the air, spun into a ball, and rolled straight down the wall of the cliff.

“YAHOOOOOOOOO!” I hollered, letting the momentum from my fall carry me through as I rolled down a rather conveniently placed cliff at the bottom.

I could hear my teammates’ cries echoing back from where I just was as I uncurled back into running. “Hold up, Sonic!” Tails called, spinning down the cliff just as I had done earlier. Soon he managed to catch up to me – he’s gotten a lot of experience following me around – and was running right alongside me.

“Man, doesn’t this make you feel nostalgic?” I said to him.

“Well, of course – it’s only the first real zone we went through together!” he replied. “It’s kind of hard to forget something so important to us, after all!”

“Hey, wait up!” Ruby’s voice interrupted us. In a flurry of petals, Ruby dashed to our sides, with Yang behind held bridal-style in her hands. It was pretty funny to see, actually. I had forgotten that Yang didn’t have much in the way of mobility compared to us three.

Yang didn’t seem to mind. “Gee, you three are just impatient today, aren’t you?” she said, grinning. “I’m all for starting things off with a Yang, but sheesh!”

Ruby immediately groaned. I dunno why, Yang’s wordplay was alright to me.

“I like running all about slopes and loops, sue me,” I responded. “No adventure’s complete without at least one of those sessions!” On cue, I jumped toward a wall and proceeded to wall jump toward the top of a nearby loop, inspiring voices of awe from Ruby and Yang. “And take a look at this view! It’s so much better from up close than from afar.”

I’m not kidding; for as tired as the Green Hill trope may be, at least it makes for some fantastic landscapes. It’s a far better look than Eggman’s mechanical hideouts, though I do appreciate the fact that he at least tries to make each of them distinguishable from each other.

Usually. He tried to call his base of operations a few months back as **Metropolis** despite the fact that he had already made a Metropolis before. He eventually compromised with **Neo Metropolis** later, but I’m still surprised he tried to go with the former.

Interestingly, the Badniks around – the same EHZ badniks from twenty-five years ago, wouldn’t you know? – were doing less ineffectual guarding and more looking for something important. Whatever it could be, I have no idea. Are they trying to gather resources? Look for animals to capture? New places for bases?

“Lemme take a look too!” I heard Tails say from below, the familiar sounds of his tails copter spinning toward me. “Wow, what’s up with the Badniks today? They’re acting all weird… Why’s that?”

“Heh, who knows? We won’t get anywhere just sitting around!” I stated triumphantly. Taking a second to grab a free **1-Up Monitor** on top of the loop (how convenient!) and hopped off back to Ruby and Yang. I still get a little adrenaline rush from all the jumping.

“So, what’d you see?” Yang asked me first.

“Eh, the usual, a bunch of Badniks running about, Rings all over the place, all the ‘first zone’ stuff you’d expect,” I answered. “For a moment I expected Eggman to have done something weird, like add a load of crushers just to screw with my expectations.”

“Now that just sounds rude!” Ruby said. “Do you really think he’d do something like that? I know Uncle Qrow mentioned that something about criminals using dirty tactics, but…”

“He hid a Robot Generator underneath a crusher once,” I deadpanned. “I wouldn’t put it past him to try a similar tactic now.” Finding that thing took me virtually ages. Good thing the Little Planet had the wonkiest time travel I’ve ever seen. If Eggman had hid all of the generators like that, then I would have to rely solely on the Time Stones. Which would suck, because getting to those Special Stages could be rather difficult as well.

Luckily, it seemed Ruby knew what I was talking about. “Oh, right, _that._ I had to look up a walkthrough myself,” she confided. “Well, you won’t have to worry about that! There’s four of us; we’ll be able to find anything easily!”

I grinned. “That’s the spirit! Now, how about we go bash some more Badniks in?”

“That’s just what I needed!” Yang pumped her fists together.

* * *

**[Tails]**

I’m wondering just how much influence Eggman actually got in these dimension within the past few months. At one point, it looks like he only just started – see the limited amount of Badniks sent before as an example – and then we find out stuff like this. Entire square miles of land just utterly replaced by something else entirely.

Does he have no sense of planning whatsoever?

Speaking of planning…

* * *

**[STORY QUEST]  
Emeralds Abound**

Eggman’s somehow transplanted **Emerald Hill Zone** onto Remnant, and his Badnik forces appear to be **looking for something** while they’re at it. Take down the hordes of enemies and figure out just what they’re doing here!

 **[REQUIREMENTS]**  
Destroy five hordes of Badniks.  
Gather information from each defeated horde.

 **[REWARDS]**  
50 EXP  
30 AP  
100 Rings

**[OK]**

* * *

We got a new quest after we left the loop-de-loop behind. Nothing too special, just ‘go out and do things.’ Man, all these early quests aren’t really too complex. I bet that’ll change in the late game, so I probably should stop looking a gift horse in the mouth.

“This place really is beautiful,” Yang breathed. I couldn’t blame her; for all that Remnant looked like a fairy-tale locale, it could never really beat the colorful landscapes from our or Mario’s worlds. The governments could make them interdimensional tourist attractions if they had the political power to do so.

I know some that would kill for a chance to fully explore the legendary World 1-1 themselves.

 “You can say that again,” Ruby was similarly in awe.

Yang got another cocky grin, and proceeded to recite, “This place really is beautiful.”

“I didn’t mean it literally!!!” The way her eyes were closed and arms were flailing in frustration really accentuated the whole ‘female anime protagonist’ part of her, amusingly enough.

“In all seriousness…” Yang continued, “It’s one thing to be looking at this on a TV screen, but it really is something else to see it for yourself. Just… how does your world _do_ all of this?”

“Ooh, ooh, I want to know too!” Ruby was jumping up and down.

I decided to humor them and explain, “Well, part of the reason is that our world comes from the age of colorful platformers, but the real reason I suspect has to do with the abundant amount of **Chaos** running about.”

“Chaos?” Yang picked up.

“He must be talking about that weird water creature from _Adventure DX!”_ Ruby predicted.

I clarified, “Close, but not quite. Although our resident ‘God of Destruction’ does share that name, what I’m really talking about is the power embedded into each of the Chaos Emeralds. Its influence has really spread across our planet. Like, every square inch of our planet is teeming with life like this, probably more than any other dimension I’ve ever seen. Geographers all around Mobius are still trying to figure it out the extent of the effects, actually. In fact, those same effects might be here now, thanks to all the experiments Eggman is doing.”

“Great… Now I wonder what would happen if the scientists at **Atlas** ever discovered these places here,” Yang mused. “Uncle Qrow’s always going on and on about how much he doesn’t like them.” Ruby and Yang last night gave us a crash course on Remnant’s geography, too. There are four kingdoms on Remnant: Vale (the one we’re on), Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo. Atlas is the military and science-based kingdom – and if they’re anything like some of the scientists back home…

“Hey, guys!” Sonic called us over, being a little ahead of us as normal. “Come look at this!” The three of us snapped out of our conversation and ran over to where Sonic was. He was on top of a small hill, holding up some sort of small **Capsule** in his hand.

And gee, was it _small._ Even the small variants from the Lost Hex were bigger than that.

“…you don’t think Eggman put any animals in this thing, right?” Yang asked nervously as Sonic held one of said capsules in his hand. I wasn’t too surprised, that thing was _tiny._

“It’s too small,” he stated, looking at it carefully. “Not even Eggman’s that cruel. Which means this must have something different.” Enthusiastically, he slammed a hand down on the release button. The container basically fell apart, clouds of smoke emitted from its crevices. What was left was another **Ring Monitor** (an E-Rank one, according to its Item Get screen). That was somehow bigger than the Capsule it was in. And we had no idea how it even got there.

Well, realistically we didn’t know, but there was one reason that made some semblance of sense. Since we had Monitors as our regular items, much like how Mario uses ‘Shrooms and Syrups, the system couldn’t exactly use it as a sort of treasure chest or Item Block (another Mario thing). Instead, we had miniature Capsules, much like the one Eggman uses to store his captured animals.

Ah, video game logic. Makes barely any sense even to my and Eggman’s minds. And we have the power of hammerspace, too.

“Hey, it’s another Ring Monitor!” Ruby noticed. “But why was it here like that?”

“You know what, I don’t think I want to know,” Yang decided. “Sometimes, you just need to ignore the weirdness and focus on the fun parts of life. I think that philosophy applies here too!”

“…I’ll take your word for it, Yang,” Ruby said.

“Hey, you sound like you’re disbelieving me!” Yang exclaimed in mock disappointment. “I’ll have you know it works all the time!”

“…uh-huh. Sureeeeeee.”

As we were chatting, a ruffling noise came from above us. “…eh? What’s that?” Ruby asked, right before a horde of Eggman Badniks stormed down from the trees. Two Coconuts – a monkey-like Badnik, one of which having FP – and another Buzz Bomber.

 **Coconuts (Lv. 3)  
HP:** 26/26, **FP:** 10/10

 **Buzz Bomber (Lv. 3)  
HP:** 22/22

I guess we’ll still be seeing beginning game enemy parties for a while, too. I brought up my Miles Electric to scan the ‘new’ enemies with interest.

* * *

 **Coconuts (Lv. 3)  
** _Hit You in the Nuts_

 **HP:** 26, **ATK:** 8, **DEF:** 3, **SPD:** 3

One of the many mass-producible Badniks made by Eggman. In another universe, this Badnik served as one of the resident Eggm—I mean, _Robotnik’s_ ‘sidekicks’ (as much of an oxymoron that is).

Coconuts employ the use of—well, coconuts as their main projectile weapon. They have a virtually unlimited number of them! It’s gonna hurt hard if one of them hits you, so always be on the move!

**[OK]**

* * *

And surprisingly, I didn’t have anything on the Buzz Bomber yet. I could’ve sworn I did, considering we faced it before, but then I remembered that we hadn’t gained our weird powers until afterward.

At least it isn’t Permanently Missable Content. Those _always_ suck; Sonic quite agrees.

* * *

 **Buzz Bomber (Lv. 3)  
** _Bee Afraid, Up Here!_

 **HP:** 22, **ATK:** 6, **DEF:** 3, **SPD:** 6

One of the many mass-producible Badniks made by Eggman. These guys are annoying and just love to snipe you in mid-air – but hey, at least they’re not as annoying as Crabmeat can be on a 2D plane!

Buzz Bombers can fly about and fire projectiles straight to your position, which kind of… hurt? Even worse, they can fire faster than most other enemies and even do a team attack with Coconuts. Be wary!

**[OK]**

* * *

So overall, a pretty ‘meh’ set of enemies, regardless of whatever that ‘team attack’ thing was. We can handle this, no problem!

“More classic Badniks, how original,” Sonic snarked. “Alright gang, let’s go!” Immediately, Sonic targeted one of the Coconuts on a tree, rolling and knocking it down from its position. Its production-line friend didn’t look too pleased at that, and attempted to aim a coconut at Sonic, who was circling around the other guy.

“Hmm? … _Whoa!”_ A coconut came flying toward him, and he had to quickly side-step out of the way. “Geez, you don’t have to be _that_ prissy at me!” From there, the battle for him devolved into avoiding a bunch of random coconuts thrown his way. _Thanks,_ FP. Well, I suppose this calls for a Dummy Ring Bomb.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were busy dealing with the lone Buzz Bomber, with Yang somehow punching its projectiles out of the way. (I’ll just say ‘anime physics’ and move on.) “Woo, I should just make all my workout sessions like this!” Yang said, getting into an easy rhythm. It was almost hypnotic in nature. Punch left, punch right, punch left, punch…

“Steady… steady…” With only a click as warning, Ruby sniped a bullet at the airborne robot, shaving off a chunk of its HP in response. “Got ‘em!”

 **Buzz Bomber (Lv. 3)  
HP:** 16/22

Ruby proceeded to fire several more shots, but the Buzz Bomber had gotten plenty smarter now, flying all over the place in an attempt to avoid damage. It had a face like it was regretting being the only Buzz Bomber here. I’m not feeling too sorry for it, sadly.

Back to Sonic, I threw my Dummy Ring Bomb at the coconut-spewing… Coconuts, stunning it and finally giving Sonic a little bit of a break. “Woo… Thanks, Tails!” he said in response, throwing an Air Cracker at the Coconuts still lying on the floor.

It blew up, and woke it up.

Which didn’t matter, because I swiped it with my tails right after.

The other Coconuts looked displeased, and bounced… off… the tree… away from us? Huh?

“Hey, where’s that thing going?” Sonic asked. “It can’t leave the fight yet, we’ve only just begun having fun!”

Our confusion was soon alleviated when the Coconuts landed right on the Buzz Bomber Ruby and Yang were still going with. “What the—? Hey, are you trying to get a piggyback ride?” Ruby demanded, before saying “…I want a piggyback ride, too!”

Coconuts proceeded to slam a coconut on the Buzz Bomber’s blaster. “…I don’t think that piggyback ride is for show,” Yang carefully stated. The coconut soon fired, missing the other two by a hair’s worth. When it hit the ground, it literally blew up in quite a spectacular fashion.

…I guess that’s what the whole ‘team attack’ thing is.

Since when could coconuts blow up, anyway?

“They weren’t kidding with they said that’d hit hard!” Sonic exclaimed with eyes wide.

The duo shot several more explosive coconuts at us, and we scrambled to get out of the way. It was a rainstorm of them! I don’t even know how they’re throwing ‘em so fast!

“Whoa, whoa, _whoa!”_ Sonic was kinda panicking, for most of the coconuts were being sent his way. “This is _not_ how you share and care!”

Of course, that didn’t mean our fair share wasn’t being thrown at us, too. “Pfft, it’s not like this is _that_ bad!” Yang dismissed. True to form, she attempted to punch one out – but all she got for her troubles was basically a bomb to the face, dealing some significant damage.

 **Yang Xiao Long**  
_The Burning Dragon  
_**HP:** 35/40, **SP:** 12/12

“AGH! That smarts…!”

“Yang, be careful!” Ruby complained. “You can’t just punch _everything_ you see!”

“It’s worked before,” Yang groaned, shaking her head. “And you don’t mess with what works, right?”

“I’m not liking this FP mechanic a lot,” I could hear Sonic grumbling. “The Badnik’s too far up to reach with a Frame Drain, and it keeps pelting us with all those coconuts!”

“Well, if we can’t get him alone… then maybe we should do a **team attack** of our own!” Ruby suggested, rose petals fluttering all over her. “Huntsmen and Huntresses do it all the time! It’ll be _awesome!”_

“Hmm… Maybe. I’m more used to the screen-clearing variety myself, but I think we can handle this.” I got what Sonic was talking about; we used our Team Blast more times than we could count in 2003. “So, whatcha got up your sleeve?”

Thinking quickly, Ruby commanded, “Yang, get your fists ready! Sonic, curl up into a ball! Tails, lure away some of the coconuts! I’ve got a strategy in mind!”

Without thinking, the two of them immediately did as told. **“If you say so, Ruby/Rubes,”** they said together. Meanwhile, I grabbed a Dummy Ring Bomb in both my hands – yay for replenishing ammo supplies – and flung them wherever two coconuts were in close proximity to each other. You know, maximize our damage outputs? It seemed to be working, as no coconut was getting

Right after me, Ruby grabbed the balled-up Sonic in her hands and threw him into the air. “Yang, spike Sonic at the annoying jerk, and as hard as you can!”

“You got it, sis!” Yang jumped into the air and punched Sonic hard. Luckily, her aim held true, sending him careening right at the Coconuts-Buzz Bomber duo. This being Sonic, he shot at them at the speed of sound (at least, I’m sure that’s what he’ll say), slamming into them with the grace of a volleyball.

All three of them crashed onto the floor, Sonic getting back on his feet easily. I could see Flickies twirling around the heads of both the Coconuts and the Buzz Bomber, indicating they were both… out of it. “Whoa, that was cool!” I said in surprise.

“That was great, we should do it again sometime!” Yang commented, pumping her fists together.

While he was at it, Sonic went and Frame Drained the Coconuts’ FP. “They’re down for the count!” he remarked. “How about we go and get ‘em?”

“YEAH!” Ruby cheered. “Let’s… _CHARRRRRRRGE!”_ With our weapon of choices in hand, the four of us charged in and smacked around the two remaining Badniks with all we had. We kicked up so much dust, it actually covered the entire battlefield. Luckily, it wasn’t that hard to figure out where our targets were.

Eventually, we pulled on back, the cloud of dust somehow taking the form of a skull as both Badniks exploded into pieces. I—I don’t know how that’s possible, but I won’t question it right now. It’s a victory, after all!

** VICTORY! **

**EXP Earned:** 20  
**Rings Earned:** 40

 **Items:** Green Material **x2**

**[OK]**

“Yeah, all clear! That **All-Out Attack** wasn’t half-bad, huh?” Sonic ribbed me.

“An All-Out Attack, huh?” I muttered. “That phrase seems… kind of familiar, somehow.” I believe it came from some popular Atlus series – _Persona,_ was it? Hmm. I didn’t think we’d borrowing stuff from their games as well. I wonder if it has any significance – but considering how we didn’t get any sort of tutorial for it…

Speaking of Atlus, Sonic has quite a few of their games in his repertoire, even before SEGA managed to buy them. It’s been a while since I’ve seen any of them, but I do remember there was a lot of anime involved in each one.

Also there was Shadow’s voice actor, or something.

“Yeah, it was great!” Ruby’s voice cut in. “We even got a death cloud! You can’t say no to death clouds of awesomeness!”

“Easy for you to say,” Yang said, “you’re not the one who got a coconut to the face.”

“And _you_ were the one that punched it in the first place!”

“Details, details.”

Just then, another prompt showed up in front of us. “Hey, what’s this?” Ruby asked. “We learn something new?” We all gathered around to read it.

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Special Attacks**

You’re probably wondering what your **SP** will be used for, considering none of your weapons or gadgets seem to consume it. Well, that’s what Special Attacks are for!

 **Special Attacks** are combination attacks utilizing the skills of two or more party members at once. They can be discovered through **a variety of methods** , and after discovery, they will be added to your repertoire for future use.

How each attack is performed and what effects will be pulled off will differ between each Special Attack. To initiate them, one party member involved in the attack needs to pay the SP fee listed.

We will forgo the SP cost for your first Special Attack, but future uses will require you to pay the required SP. Alternating the usages of each attack will be beneficial to combating your foes, so make sure to keep your skills sharp with them

**[OK]**

* * *

**[SPECIAL ATTACK]  
Volleyball Spike**

**Characters:** Sonic, Yang  
**SP Cost:** 6

Roll Sonic up into a ball and spike him into a foe like a volleyball! Can hit both grounded and airborne foes, and make airborne ones dizzy.

**[OK]**

* * *

“Ooh, it recognized our combination attack!” Ruby cheered. As usual, her face had brightened up with a wide smile. “The name could use a bit of work, though.”

“Forget the name, what about the fact that it costs SP now?” Yang pouted. “That’s just unfair. It’s not like the attack requires any sort of real effort! Or magic, or _something.”_

“Eh, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles,” Sonic remarked. ( _“Mmm, cookies…”_ I saw Ruby start drooling. Maybe we should pack some cookies next time, then.) “Mario goes through that all the time, so if he can do it, than we certainly can. And do it even better, too!”

While they were talking, I approached the broken carcasses of the Badniks we just faced off against. We were supposed to gather information from each horde of Badniks we faced. Maybe it’s something in their source code that Eggman put in.

Whipping out my Miles Electric, I synchronized my wireless signals to that of the Badnik carcasses, bringing up a window with the relevant section of information that we needed to look for. “Hey, Tails, what are you doing?” Sonic looked over my shoulder, trying to decipher the information on my screen.

“Remember what our quest requirements said? They want us to look for information as to what Eggman’s Badniks are looking for,” I explained. “And I have to admit, I’m curious too. If I can find where their Primary Objective is listed, then we should be one step closer to figuring things out. Now, let’s see…”

I tapped the screen a bit, and this window soon popped up:

**[QUEST INFO]**

The following pieces of information have been collected from Eggman’s Badniks:

 **OBJECTIVE LISTINGS:**  
Seek out ideal locations for local Eggman headquarters.  
[1/2 Found]

 **SIDE NOTES:  
** [0/3 Found]

**[OK]**

…well, that didn’t give us a lot of information. Yet. And for some reason, I didn’t find much more information hidden in the code, either. Well, we’ve got four more slots worth of data to find; there’s gotta be _something_ useful there.

“Alright, guys!” Ruby brought us back to the present. “Where do we go next?”

“We still have a lot of ground to cover,” I said, “and plenty of Badniks to find.” In 2D, Emerald Hill is a typical linear starter zone. In 3D, it naturally translates to a lot more space, given the extra dimension and our franchise’s traditional design philosophies. And since Eggman replaced quite a lot of this section of Patch with Emerald Hill…

…hopefully the ‘starter zone’ thing will come through for us.

“So in any case,” I continued, “it might be best to just wander about, see what we haven’t filled on our map.” Our related menu devices conveniently have a map that tells us where we have and haven’t been, so if we use that…!

“That’s right… We have a map!” Ruby remembered. “I was having so much fun exploring, I forgot to pay attention to it!”

“It’s a map, of course nobody would look at it,” Yang dismissed. “It’s not really going to show us much, anyway.” That’s, uh… kind of the point. Maps are just a guide; not the actual game itself.

“I suppose we’re lucky we don’t have time limits anymore,” Sonic mused. “We’ve certainly long since gone past ten minutes in this zone. So…” He jerked a thumb over in the direction of more hills. “How about we really get started on exploring?”

* * *

**[Ruby]**

Today, we did a bunch of things for a quest.

I dunno why we have to do this quest other than the fact that it’s a quest, and it’s… uh, questy, I guess? But we get to break a bunch more evil robot bad guys, so I guess I don’t really mind doing this questy quest! We haven’t seen any Grimm yet, which is surprising. I mean, they just love to be _everywhere._ But it makes our job a lot easier, soooooo… I won’t complain!

After we thrashed the first set of Badniks (yay for Special Attacks!), we went around looking for more of ‘em. But this place was _huge_. I mean, it certainly wasn’t as big as something like Vale, but you really could get lost here! There were slopes and massive cliffs and trees and just—everything! And I thought it was supposed to be the tutorial zone!

I know Tails said something about ‘extra dimensions’ and ‘adapting design archetypes’, but the only thing I got from it was a bunch of jargon that I didn’t really understand. If he were talking about weaponry, I’d get it. Everything else was a load of ‘blah blah blah’s, unfortunately.

We explored a lot of Emerald Hill, and there were a bunch of crevices around. We even found a pretty cool Monitor in the back of some miniature cave! Unfortunately, it also had an enemy ambush.

* * *

_Hey guys, look!” As the four of us were walking, I pointed a finger at the convenient Monitor with a shoe. “There’s another Monitor in here! There’s a shoe on the screen, too.”_

_“Sweet, let’s snatch it up!” In the blink of an eye, Sonic dashed to the back of the cave, picking up the Monitor as casually as Yang made puns. “Let’s see…” A prompt showed up in front of his face – an item description, I think._

**[ITEM]  
Speed-Up Monitor**

A holding device shaped like a television. Upon usage, it will temporarily increases the **SPEED** of whoever breaks it.

**[OK]**

_“Not too shabby! I’m not sure I’d get a lot of use out of it right now, seeing as how I’m already the Fastest Thing Alive and we won’t be doing a whole lot of zone blazing,” Sonic rambled, “but it’s still nice to have!”_

_“Uh, hey, Sonic?” Tails tried to get his attention. The three of us not holding the Monitor were busy staring behind Sonic; the moving shadows quickly becoming something worth noting._

_“What is it, Tails?” Sonic looked at us three, who were looking at something behind him, who was in turn looking at Sonic with a scary glare. Eyes should not be glowing like that! “…is there something on my face?”_

_“Y-You might want to look behind you, Sonic…” I stated nervously, a shaking hand going straight toward where Crescent Rose was._

_“Behind me? What could be—?” Sonic proceeded to turn around._

_A giant crab thing stared back into his soul._

_“…oh.”_

* * *

Sure, we beat the guy easily (getting **10 EXP** and **15 Rings** for our troubles), but not before I had a bit of a panic session and sent several bullets down its pincers.

What? It was big, it was in the shadows, and its eyes were glowing _in the dark!_ How can you _not_ be frightened by that!?

It didn’t stop Yang from busting her gut laughing though. I’ll get her back sometime later.

 **SIDE NOTES:**  
The transportation of Emerald Hill Zone to the planet of Remnant has brought along with it many of the Chaos-related properties found on Mobius. As with the last few dimensions, the plans for the Eggman Empire remains unchanged: we must gather resources and build up our forces on Remnant before Sonic the Hedgehog can catch a glimpse of Doctor Eggman’s magnificent plans.  
[1/3 Found]

Luckily, we didn’t have to read all of the questy stuff we got in Eggman’s voice. I mean sure, it’d be kinda funny, but something tells me it would devolve into _‘Now Sonic can’t stop me!’_ and other stuff like that.

So, judging by this entry… does that mean Eggman has robot leaders? That just seems… strange. He always seemed like a one-commander army type of guy. You never really see any sort of hierarchy in there.

Then again, there was Heavy Gunner from yesterday, so maybe he’s gotten better about that.

“Heh, Eggman wanted to hide this from us, huh?” Sonic remarked, scratching his nose. “I’ll admit, he did a pretty good job at that… up until he let us know it was happening in the first place, anyway.”

“There’s one part that still worries me though. It’s the part where they mention _‘As with the last few dimensions,’_ ” Tails pointed out. “We know that Eggman has an eight-month headstart on us, but just how many dimensions has he affected?”

“Two? Three? Six? A dozen?” I guessed. “Ooh, maybe a hundred!”

Sonic shuddered. “…I hope he suddenly didn’t get competent enough for _that._ Can you imagine having to go through Eggmanland several times?”

Now I was shuddering too. “Don’t remind me, that level was _terrible!”_ It took me _hours_ to get past that one level. It was just. So. _Long!_ I went through several packs of strawberries (and extra lives) getting through it. And then I got a stomachache.

It wasn’t very fun, trust me.

I bet it was tough enough for Sonic to go through it, with years of experience. I don’t want to physically do it myself! Do you know how many bottomless pits there were!? It was ridiculous! I’m not athletic enough for that!

“Don’t forget nauseating.” Oh right – there was a lot of weird transformation stuff too. I never really got why that was a thing. But, well… it was a thing! “Right, I need to clear my head. There’s another set of Badniks on the horizon, let’s deal with them!”

* * *

**[Yang]**

**30 EXP** and **50 Rings** later (not to mention three more **Green Material** ), we got two more scraps of information! Oh, and I finally got a **Level Up**. It’s about time; I’m the only one here who _hasn’t_ gotten one of those yet!

* * *

 **Yang Xiao Long**  
**Level 5 (E-Rank)**  
_The Burning Dragon_

 **HP:** 40 (+4)  
**SP:** 12 (+1)  
**POW:** 52 (+2)  
**DEF:** 44 (+1)  
**SPEED:** 37 (+1)  
**COOL:** 15 (+2)

 **EXP:** 180/460  
**To Next Level:** 280

* * *

I got to pick out a bonus stat boost-a-ma-jig, too! I chose **POW** , obviously. It was a no-brainer to decide! All I really need is to be able to punch stuff really hard (though admittedly a few other tactics _does_ help; thanks Ruby), and luckily, it was easy to land a **+4**. Like, really easy. What the heck’s up with that?

Oh well, at least I get to feel the benefits of levelling up. “Man, I’m already feeling better than ever!” I remarked with a grin. “It’s quite a new _level_ of excitement!”

“Oh come on, that wasn’t even a pun!” Ruby complained.

“Hey, anything can be a good pun!” I shot back, still in good spirits. “You just have to know where to look.”

“Keep me far away from wherever you look then,” my sister deadpanned. “I don’t want to catch your pun-itis.”

“Hey, punning is the best kind of disease to have! There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Alright guys,” Tails said, “let’s see what these new notes read.”

 **OBJECTIVE LISTINGS:**  
Discover and utilize the properties of Emerald Hill’s local mechanisms.  
[2/2 Found]

 **SIDE NOTES:**  
The Chaos properties included with the transportation of Emerald Hill Zone include Rings, Monitors, and Checkpoint Posts. This gives us the opportunity to discover the effects of these Chaos-infused properties away from their natural environment, and possibly get an advantage over Doctor Eggman’s mortal enemies.  
[2/3 Found]

Finding these scraps of information was pretty cool, actually. It reminds me of… my own little self-imposed mission. Of looking for someone. Someone important.

…great, I’m feeling a little bitter. B-Back on topic!

“Say, how _does_ stuff like that work, anyway?” I decided to ask Sonic. “You know, Rings and Checkpoints and the other weird video game things you have?”

“I don’t really know, beyond saying _‘Magiccccccc!’_ —“ At this, Sonic wiggled his fingers in front of us for dramatic effect, and I couldn’t help but giggle (and Ruby, too). It was pretty goofy! “—and something about Chaos’ influence. They were just there, and that’s all I really needed!”

“Checkpoints were pretty useful, though,” Tails remarked. “I don’t know if you remember, but they’re a good way to play **Bonus Games**. They were basically free Rings and Items, so long as you could get a grip on whatever was going on. I remember me and Sonic using them a lot during the Angel Island crisis.”

Ruby automatically groaned. “Ugh, I only remember those dumb **Special Stages**. With the bombs that just… showed up out-of-nowhere! I lost so many times, I had to get Yang to get me through them! Admittedly, she wasn’t much help… but still!”

“Pfft, you’re just jealous of my _awesome_ playing skills.” I remember them; those Special Stages felt pretty awesome! Swinging back and forth and collecting all those Rings – it gave off a pretty cool sense of excitement. It wasn’t quite as exciting as the type of stuff Huntresses get to go through, but it was close enough!

Ruby then proceeded to remind me of something. “You also blew up when you failed a couple of them at the last second. Literally.” …oh right, that happened too.

“I, uhh… forgot about that,” I said sheepishly. Okay, maybe they’re not _quite_ as awesome as I remember. “Can we… not speak of those now, Rubes?”

Tails got a look on his face, as if a light bulb had just went off. “That gets me thinking… I haven’t seen any of the Chaos Emeralds since we stopped Eggman. I’ve gone around a few times during the rebuilding process, but I never picked up any Chaos Emerald signals at all.”

“Huh. That’s strange. Those things are usually easy to find,” Sonic said. “What about Shadow? Did he pick up anything? He’s a magnet for Chaos-related things.”

“I don’t think so. He said himself he didn’t sense anything whenever he talked about it.”

“So… what does that mean?” Ruby interjected, looking confused. “Are they taking a vacation or something?”

“Must be a pretty comfortable vacation, if they’ve stayed there for so long,” I joked. “Maybe we should join them.”

“Hmm…” Tails thoughtfully looked at a nearby **Checkpoint Post**. “I wonder…”

Said Checkpoint Post happened to have a bunch of Badniks hanging around it. “Hey, it’s a bunch more Badniks!” I noticed aloud. They were so conveniently placed, it was almost like they _wanted_ to get owned.

Well, as a Huntress-in-Training, I can’t let their wishes be unfulfilled then!

Ruby lifted her Crescent Rose. “Ooh, let’s go take care of them!” In about a minute, we dashed in and utterly trashed them to pieces – a fairly typical thing, at this point. These guys just get easier and easier, even if some of them had **FP** for us to deal with. ( **FP** didn’t really help the Coconuts-Buzz Bomber duo anymore, thanks to our fabulous **Volleyball Spike**. We really served them, ha ha!)

We also got **15 EXP** and **15 Rings** out of it.

Afterward, Tails booted up his tablet-thingy and got the last piece of information we needed. Man, if only looking for my mother was as easy as this.

 **SIDE NOTES:**  
The Checkpoint Posts seem to have gained some new special properties as a result of the transportation process – to a greater extent than found on Mobius. Unfortunately, we have yet to find exactly what has changed, and how to access these changes. Presumably, it is related to the Chaos Emeralds, which have been conspicuously missing throughout the past few months, but we have yet to confirm this.  
[3/3 Found]

“Hey, we were just talking about those checkpoint things earlier!” I realized as my eyes read over the screen. “They didn’t seem any different from you guys’ games.” But then again, I wasn’t really looking too hard at them. I mean, it was just… a checkpoint! (In stark contrast, I got to see Ruby hugging one in her excitement. I caught all of it on my Scroll, don’t you worry.) “You think it means something?”

Sonic rolled up to the Checkpoint Post, tapping the bobble-thing on top. The bobble spun about a bit before turning from blue to red… and oddly enough, it was sparkling.

Sparkling.

Just like _Sonic 2._

Talk about Five-Second Foreshadowing.

Sonic grinned as a prompt showed up in front of his face.

**[SPECIAL STAGE]**

**Cost:** 50 Rings (355)

Unlock this special stage?

**[YES] / [NO]**

“Well, don’t mind if I do!” Quickly, Sonic tapped the **[YES]** button, and then something pretty cool happened before our eyes. One by one, fifty Rings exited Sonic’s hammerspace and shot straight toward the Checkpoint’s bobble thing, making the latter briefly flash white with every Ring it ate. Finally, the bobble shot some sort of white ball above the Checkpoint, which promptly turned into a gigantic spinning yellow Ring. “And bingo!” he concluded.

“Wow! It’s a **Special Stage**!” Ruby squee’d, despite herself. Just earlier, she had stated how Special Stages kinda sucked, and then she goes and happily squeals at the sight. I guess the whole _‘Holy crap video games are REAL!_ ’ thing hasn’t quite worn off yet.

A **[QUEST CLEAR!]** prompt showed up in front of our faces right after, and I immediately remembered our quest was named **_Emeralds_ Abound**. Ha ha, I can appreciate that type of wordplay.

* * *

**[QUEST CLEAR!]  
Emeralds Abound**

**[REWARDS]**  
50 EXP  
30 AP  
100 Rings

**[OK]**

* * *

**[TUTORIAL]  
Special Stages**

Here’s something new! **Chaos Emeralds** , in the past, have been collected through the realm of Special Stages – and we are bringing that back for _Frames of Animation™!_

 **Special Stages** are unique challenges that can be accessed by paying a good amount of Rings. However, you must pay a fee every time you want to enter, although the price will be lower if you have failed the stage repeatedly. The amount will vary depending on how many Special Stages you’ve completed already.

Winning a Special Stage, as expected, will net you one of the coveted Chaos Emeralds, which will grant you a bit of an advantage in battle. To find out what the advantage is, enter the Special Stage and try to win it!

Initiate the tutorial?

**[YES] / [NO]**

* * *

“And that means…” Ruby gasped in delight. “…we can get the Chaos Emeralds!”

“No wonder why we couldn’t find them!” Tails realized, snapping his fingers in realization. “The Chaos Emeralds migrated back to the Special Zone instead of just scattering around Mobius. We haven’t really seen that since the Lost Hex!”

“Speaking of which, experiencing that is far less nauseating than using the gyroscope,” Sonic decided to add a few of his own cents. I, uh, didn’t really get what he was talking about. Since when did _Sonic Lost World_ have gyroscope controls? “I wonder what we’re gonna see in the Special Stages this time. Will we be rehashing _Sonic 2? Sonic Heroes? Sonic Mania?”_

“Come on, Sonic! Give our devs a little more credit than that!” Tails replied. He was looking pretty positive. “Just because we’ve gone through a bunch of stuff we’ve seen before doesn’t mean that’s all our journey will be! …despite _Lost World_ and _Forces_ being just that…”

“Yeah, Sonic! Let’s go in already!” Ruby was hopping up and down in excitement. Heh, she better slow down; her bee’s knees are acting up! (I’ve used that term before – she’s very much a general prodigy at Signal. I like teasing her about it; it’s my duty as her older sister!) “We can’t miss this opportunity, not for the world! So long as they’re not those really sucky halfpipes, it should be great!”

Sonic sighed in amusement. “Man, you’re really excited for this, aren’t you? Alright then – let’s get this party started!” Without hesitation, Sonic jumped right into the Special Ring, the latter briefly flashing white as it let him in. Ruby followed suit, shouting a comical “Here we go!” as she went.

That just left me and Tails. “Ladies first,” he said, jokingly bowing down and backing off.

“Aww, you don’t have to. I’m already feeling pretty special,” I teased right back. “Well, no better time like the present!” Getting my gauntlets ready, I hopped right into the Big Ring, and let my surroundings turn into a blinding white.

What will we find at the end of the line?

Heck if I know, but I’m ready to find out!

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

“Seriously Specialized Shenanigans”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, I was busy starting up two one-shot collections (and will probably end up contributing to them quite a lot).
> 
> I’ve tried my best to make **Emerald Hill Zone** feel like a somewhat substantial inclusion to Frames of Animation. Hopefully, I’ve captured at least some of the iconic elements that come with Sonic zones, though I reckon it might take me a few more chapters to really iron down everything I want to do with these embedded zones.
> 
>  **Special Stages** are going to be a thing in Frames of Animation. I could probably find other ways to work the Chaos Emeralds into the plot, but I believe this will be a good setup for something I want to do later. (Also it’s unique and I just wanted to do it.) I would’ve put the first Special Stage in this chapter too, but I don’t want my chapter lengths getting too overblown now. Too much and it’ll start being a chore to edit!
> 
> Special Attacks will work much like how the _Mario & Luigi_ series implements them. I’ll see about establishing a balance between _Superstar Saga’s_ techniques and the later games’ item-based attacks.
> 
> Also yes, **All-Out Attacks**. Because why not? (It won’t be much of an actual mechanic; just a cute reference.)
> 
> Next time on **_Frames of Animation_** , the crew begins the first Special Stage of their journey. What will it be like? Utterly rehashed? Completely new? A mixture of both? Who knows! You’ll just have to wait and see.


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